RIP Anthony Robinson and all our other young people who will never live to fulfill their dreams.
It was in 1969, in Harlem when Nina Simone sang "To Be Young, Gifted and Black." (see longer clip here)
at the Harlem Cultural Festival, also known as Black Woodstock, which was policed by The Black Panther Party, since the NYPD declined.
The NYPD refused to police the events and security was left to the Black Panthers who earlier had 21 of their members indicted for planning a bombing campaign in Manhattan to mark the first anniversary of Martin Luther King’s death. Despite the controversy surrounding the Black Panthers all the concerts passed of peacefully with some 100,000 people in attendance too.
The events were all captured on film by TV producer Hal Tulchin who had wanted to sell the footage to the TV networks but none of them showed any interest and some 50 hours of footage has still not seen the light of day. A few clips have popped up on You Tube such as the ones we have below but otherwise it has never been shown on TV or released on DVD. Quite what this says about the US media and their willingness to show footage relating to black culture is open to conjecture but that such an important historical document is still lying unseen does not sit comfortably with America’s claim to be a progressive multi-cultural society.
I sit here listening to the
lyrics and weep.They are tears of rage wrapped in a deep melancholy.
To be young, gifted and black,
Oh what a lovely precious dream
To be young, gifted and black,
Open your heart to what I mean
In the whole world you know
There are billion boys and girls
Who are young, gifted and black,
And that's a fact!
Young, gifted and black
We must begin to tell our young
There's a world waiting for you
This is a quest that's just begun
When you feel really low
Yeah, there's a great truth you should know
When you're young, gifted and black
Your soul's intact
Young, gifted and black
How I long to know the truth
There are times when I look back
And I am haunted by my youth
Oh but my joy of today
Is that we can all be proud to say
To be young, gifted and black
Is where it's at
Let us not forget that the March in Selma being commemorated this weekend was inspired by the rage over the murder of
Jimmie Lee Jackson.
Turn anger into action.
Support the Dream Defenders here at Daily Kos is taking action, with the Michael Brown Over-Policed Rights Act.