Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

"In 1969, during the same summer as Woodstock, a different music festival took place 100 miles away. Over 300,000 people attended the summer concert series known as the Harlem Cultural Festival. It was Free to all. The festival was filmed. But after that summer the footage sat in a basement for 50 years. It has never been seen until now." These are the opening lines of the best musical documentary that I have ever seen.

This was produced by Questlove as a look back on Black history, culture, and fashion. "I am Black. I am Proud. I am Beautiful." Is the overall theme of the festival and as such becomes the overall theme of the entire documentary. In fact, Nina Simone even sang, "Young, Gifted, and Black" during the festival. The Black Panthers were the security, and Jesse Jackson talked about the death of Martin Luther King and his hope for how they would move forward.

It was during the time when there was a lot of political unrest and after the death of Martin Luther King Jr, JFK, Robert Kennedy, Malcolm X, and the Vietnam War protests. The goal of the festival was to keep Black folks from burning down the city in '69. There was every style of Black music there, jazz, blues, R&B, pop, and gospel, and people all over the place including up in the trees to watch the performances. It wasn’t just about the music, it was about progress.

The documentary is full of commentary from performers, people who were there, and people who wish they could have been there. Some of them remarked on how amazing it was to see the community come together. People had their grills out, people were selling food, it smelled like Afro Sheen and chicken. It was the ultimate barbecue, according to those in attendance.

It all started with an idea from Tony Lawerence, who put the festival together by making a bunch of promises depending on other promises until it all came together. Then he got a bunch of sponsors including Maxwell House Coffee. He was only a lounge singer, so he needed others to vouch for him to help make it happen. This voucher came from the Mayor John Lindsey who was running for re election.

Tony decided to MC the event at MT Morris Park. Stevie Wonder performed there in the rain before the weather cleared up. We are used to seeing him behind the piano, but here he played the drums. The 5th dimension sang Age of Aquarius and said they performed there because they were constantly criticized for not being Black enough, so they wanted to show that they were. David Ruffin had just left the Temptations and he was there to perform My Girl. BB King, Mahalia Jackson, a young Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Edwin Hawkin Singers, and so many more came together to make this festival a success. Then the festival was forgotten.

Even if you feel like I just told you the whole thing, which I did not, but I can see why some would think so, there is nothing like seeing all of those beautiful Black faces in a crowd of love and peace just listening to some good music and in fellowship with each other. So many people there with love for their community. It was a beautiful sight to behold. Major props to Questlove for putting the pieces all together to show exactly what we can do when we all work together. I could watch this over and over again, and I am not one to do that, so I urge you to watch Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). I can almost guarantee you won't be disappointed. Check it out on Hulu today.

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