PBS Journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault On The Cultural Shifts Spotlighted In 'Summer Of Soul'

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
BY SHERI LINDEN
SENIOR COPY EDITOR/FILM CRITIC

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JANUARY 28, 2021

Not many people know his name, but half a century ago Tony Lawrence created something extraordinary in the middle of New York City. And few people know the name Hal Tulchin, but he documented the feat. It was called the Harlem Cultural Festival, and over six weekends in the summer of 1969 it showcased more than five dozen acts and drew 300,000 people, who were charged not a cent to see — are you ready? — Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln, B.B. King, Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Staple Singers, Sly and the Family Stone. To name just a few of the artists, some in their prime and some groundbreaking up-and-comers, who graced the outdoor stage.

But this monumental alignment of the stars — what some would later refer to as the Black Woodstock — generated little media attention, in part because it was overshadowed by the actual Woodstock, which took place during the Harlem event’s penultimate weekend and just a couple of hours north, turning Max Yasgur’s farm into ground zero for a generation. Still, that’s a feeble excuse for the dearth of headlines, or for the networks’ lack of interest in TV producer-director Tulchin’s expertly shot (on spec) footage of the high-voltage lineup. The local CBS station aired a few highlights, but on a national scale there were no takers.

THE BOTTOM LINE
A New Year's gift of spectacular vintage.
Thus the subtitle of Summer of Soul, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s electrifying documentary on those concerts and the political climate in which they unfolded — a subtitle that riffs on an immortal turn of phrase from the late great Gil Scott-Heron: Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised. The footage sat in storage for decades, until Summer of Soul‘s producers set the ball rolling to give it its long-overdue spotlight.

It’s no surprise that Thompson, an accomplished and celebrated musician, has a knack for revealing the emotional core of concert performances. At the helm of a feature-length film for the first time, he also lends the long-lost material the eye of an assured director, approaching it on three eloquently interwoven narrative tracks: the knockout concerts themselves; a piercing capsule portrait of 1969 as a turning point in Black identity; and a collection of lovely, charged Boomer reminiscences from those who were there, some onstage and some in the audience. The film captures several of them as they view the previously unseen footage, dazzling evidence of a moment in time that seemingly had been written out of the official story.

The result is deeply felt on both sides of the timeline, drawing clear parallels between two galvanizing historical periods, then and now. An opening-night selection of Sundance’s first virtual edition, Summer of Soul is as thoughtful as it is rousing, a welcome shot of adrenaline to kick off not just a film festival but a new year.

The war criminal Rumsfeld died today.

Prosecution of George W. Bush et. al. for War Crimes
WHEREAS there is overwhelming evidence that President George W. Bush and et. al. (his direct subordinates) committed war crimes,

WHEREAS international law requires the United States government to prosecute all war crimes committed by US persons; for example, torture, ghost prisoners, secret jails, used depleted uranium weapons that poisoned the battlefield and civilians for many years following the warfare, and making war on Iraq without a UN resolution,

WHEREAS President Bush et al, ordered the kidnapping of an estimated 150 people from foreign nations (aka “extraordinary rendition”) and delivering them for interrogation by nations having a well documented history of torture,

WHEREAS, Regarding Iraq, the last Security Council resolution essentially said, “Look, send the weapons inspectors out to Iraq, have them come back and tell us what they've found -- then we'll figure out what we're going to do.” But without permission/vote of the UN Security Council, the US invaded Iraq and in so doing the US did unprovoked or "aggressive" war, the highest crime against mankind,

WHEREAS President Bush and seven of his administration's top officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, made at least 935 false statements in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq,

WHEREAS If George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and others are not prosecuted US government leaders in the future will not fear any personal consequences for going to war without a declaration by Congress,

WHEREAS the claim that the President, as commander-in-chief, can exercise the unlimited powers of a king or dictator strikes at the very heart of our democracy and the rule of law requires a rejection of impunity for the criminal acts of government officials,

WHEREAS 6,900 and approximately 7,800 contractors were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan at the end of 2018, 52,010 wounded in action, and this number does not included are those “non-hostile injuries” and other medical problems such as heat stroke, suicide attempts, respiratory problems, and vehicle crashes,

WHEREAS 970,000 disability claims registered with the VA,

WHEREAS these wars have been paid for almost entirely by borrowing, therefore including the predicted interest payments, the total cost will be over $6 trillion by the 2050s,

WHEREAS more than 480,000 people have been killed by direct war violence in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan and over 8.4 million Afghans, Pakistanis, and Iraqis are living as war refugees in other countries or are displaced from their homes,

WHEREAS every segment of the US electorate–including majorities of Democrats (82 percent), independents (62 percent), and Republicans (51 percent) — want to hold the Bush administration accountable for its role in the destruction of the CIA’s interrogation tapes and the use of torture by the agency,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED we demand the US Justice Department prosecute of George W. Bush et. al. for war crimes,

President Bush and seven of his administration's top officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, made at least 935 false statements in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq was part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses.
http://www.truth-out.org/rumsfeld-era-propaganda-program-whitewashed-

Lying the US into Iraq
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4RZO8y-R9k&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3qwOWddjedvIKm3akPygWtF3Q4IjSf-Uy4DWjgKj5QV74yUai_3nzKUYc