On April 5, 1968, soul legend James Brown performed a concert in Boston that many say shielded that city from the kinds of devastating riots that ripped other cities apart after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Direction
Leaf weaves archival footage with tense city-hall drama seamlessly.
Editing
Cuts between King's death and Brown's rising stage presence gut-punch perfect.
Director
David Leaf
Cornel West
Self (as Dr. Cornel West)
James Brown
Self (archive footage)
Muhammad Ali
Self (archive footage)
Bobby Byrd
Self (archive footage)
Martin Luther King Jr.
Self (archive footage)
Coretta Scott King
Self (archive footage)
Robert F. Kennedy
Self (archive footage)
Lyndon B. Johnson
Self (archive footage)
Richard Nixon
Self (archive footage)
Harry Reasoner
Self (archive footage)
Al Sharpton
Self
Hubert H. Humphrey
Self (archive footage)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Brown's performance was originally scheduled for April 5 anyway—city officials just begged WGBH to broadcast it live, making it the first concert film aired during a national crisis.
Cornel West argues this night revealed Black cultural power as political currency—a tension Brown navigated his whole career, from civil rights stages to Nixon's White House.
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