Summer of Soul
The gem of the day comes from Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and his film Summer of Soul (… or, when the revolution could not be televised.) A nearly two-hour documentary that looks back on the legendary Harlem Cultural Festival which took place in Mt. Morris Park in New York in the summer of 1969. That same summer, 100 miles away, it was however the Woodstock festival that made its mark on history. An injustice corrected by Questlove thanks to rushes forgotten for more than fifty years in a basement. Luckily the festival was filmed for the CBS television channel but will ultimately not be broadcasted. The footage has never been seen, until now. The quality of the images is amazing. More than 300,000 people will attend the series of free concerts organized at the instigation of producer Tony Lawrence; a true ode to African-American culture and music, but also a means to promote Black pride and unity.
The challenge was immense when you see the successive headliners. From Stevie Wonder to B.B. King, from David Ruffin to Gladys Knight by way of Nina Simone, it was the crème de la crème that showed up in front of that enthusiastic crowd. America in the 1960s is in turmoil. Assassinations come one after another, first with that of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and then it will be the turn of Malcom X in February 1965, Martin Luther King in April 1968 and soon after Bobby Kennedy in June 1968. The Vietnam War is in full swing and raises more and more opposition, the movement for Civil Rights is as for it gaining momentum. The Black Panthers are then more or less in charge of security, but the crowd is overflowing from everywhere. Some kids are even perched on trees, the view being undoubtedly stunning, while swaying to the rhythm of the various songs. Rock, jazz, gospel or blues, all the sounds of black culture are honored. Music is there to give hope, it has this gift of being able to awaken souls and bring people together.
Moving moments also punctuate the film, such as when Reverend Jessee Jackson remembers the death of Martin Luther King and that Sister Mahalia Jackson and Mavis Staples then strike up with their powerful voices his favorite song, Precious Lord. Nina Simone will not leave anyone indifferent with her impactful To be young, Gifted & Black which follows the wonderful Backlash Blues. In short, a mass of talents, an exceptional event that we would all have liked to attend, a political symbol and a piece of contemporary history which miraculously resurfaces to remind us, if need be, that “Black is Beautiful!”. A must watch!
