Summer of Soul (Hulu)

 

Summer of Soul (Hulu)

This is a documentary of a forgotten musical festival in Harlem in 1969. It was formally known as the Harlem Cultural Festival and  was called the Black Woodstock. It took place over a six week period in Mount Morris Park in Harlem attended by  nearly 300,000. The concert film was overshadowed  by  Woodstock and relegated to 50 years of obscurity in a basement.

 The Harlem Cultural Festival was a series of music concerts held in Harlem during the summer of 1969 to celebrate African American music and culture and to promote the continued politics of black pride. The sounds were R&B, blues and jazz.

The film is directed by Ahmir Questlove Thompson (band leader of the Roots). It won the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the US Documentary Competition. It features Afro/Latin music from some of the great artists of the time. Some of the acts were Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone, The 5th Dimension, The Staple Singers, BB King, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Max Roach, Mongo Santamaria and Sly and the Family Stone. The performances are shown whole and not just clips along with enthusiastic reactions from the audience. It is worth seeing the film just to see Steve Wonders’ virtuoso drum solo. The Black Panthers provided security for Sly and the Family Stone when the police refused. The music is amazing and still fresh.

The film is also social commentary. 1969 was a heady year. Apollo 11 landed on the moon and the country was still raw after the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy in 1968. These assassinations erupted in riots in across major cities. New York City was spared from rioting in part due to the efforts Mayor Lindsay and the concert was seen as quelling emotions and show casing black pride. The Reverend Jessie Jackson spoke at the concert to offset the pain of the MLK assignation.

Regarding the moon landing the residents of Harlem had a more earthly opinion of the landing. They felt the money was better served addressing the poverty of their neighborhood. How can you be enthusiastic about the landing if you cannot afford a TV?

This documentary  is a resurrected jewel and is an important complement to black and American history.