July 21, 2021
Page 7
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
‘Summer of Soul’ – Much to Savor
o Pinionated
J udGe
by
d arleen o rtega
Film beautifully portrays 1969
celebration of Black culture
If you look up “Summer of
Soul” (or “When the Revolution
Could Not Be Televised”) on
Metacritic, you will find that the
ratings of this phenomenal docu-
mentary—a first directing effort
by Ahmir “Questlove” Thomp-
son—has evoked “universal ac-
claim” from critics. And rightly
so. But let us pause to reflect on
what the trajectory of this partic-
ular work of art has to teach us
about our collective selves--what
it takes for Black artists to gain
recognition in this country, and
the losses that accompany every
hard-fought gain.
Visionary New York promoter
and entertainer Tony Lawrence
conceived and organized a series
of free concerts over six week-
ends in 1969, dubbed the Harlem
Cultural Festival. The project re-
quired vision—it was held at what
was then known as Mount Morris
Park (now Marcus Garvey Park)
and drew a combined total of
300,000 people in a dazzling cel-
ebration of Black culture that was
unique for the time. New York
Mayor John Lindsey supported
the project and, when the New
York Police Department refused
to provide security for the artists,
Mavis Staples and Mahalia Jackson perform at the Harlem
Cultural Festival in 1969, featured in the documentary ‘Summer of
Soul.’ Photo courtesy Searchlight Pictures.
the Black Panther Party stepped
in.
The event was an unqualified
success. Acts as diverse as the
Fifth Dimension (then at the top
of the pop charts), Stevie Wonder
(then 19 and pounding out a re-
markable drum solo and astound-
ing keyboard work), a youthful
Gladys Knight and the Pips flash-
ing Motown moves, the Edwin
Hawkins Singers delivering their
hit rendition of “O Happy Day,”
gospel legends Mahalia Jackson
and the Staples Singers, Sly and
the Family Stone, Nina Simone,
and blues great B.B. King per-
formed to buoyant crowds, and
television producer Hal Tulchin
captured 40 hours of footage. It
all happened the same summer
as Woodstock—and as director
Thompson has pointed out, had
the Harlem Cultural Festival in-
volved any of the excesses of that
better-known event, it might have
attracted more, albeit negative,
attention. Tulchin tried for many
years to attract funding to turn the
footage into a television special
or documentary film, dubbing the
event “Black Woodstock.” But no
one was interested. The footage
tragically sat in his basement for
almost 50 years.
Thompson’s background as a
drummer, bandleader, D.J., and
music historian makes him the
ideal person to bring us this cast-
aside treasure. These 50 years lat-
C ontinued on P age 10