Throwback: Black History Month: James Brown

Today is the twenty-eighth and final day of Black History Month. Because the current administration is racist, fascist and wants to deny the existence and histories of anyone that isn’t cis-het and white, there are some important things everyone should remember during this month — and every single month: 

• You can’t love Black artists and their work, and not see them as people 
• Black lives — and Black art matters 
• Black culture is American culture 

As we go through the month, I’m going to talk about a collection of Black artists. It’ll be fairly comprehensive and eclectic list — although it won’t be a complete list. So far I’ve talked about the following: 

• Big Boi, who celebrated his 51st birthday on February 1
•  Rick James, who was born 78 years ago on February 1
• Sudan Archives, one of the most talented and dynamic artists performing out there today
• The Temptations‘ second and longest tenured lead vocalist Dennis Edwards who was born 83 years ago on February 3 
• Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter, bassist and JOVM mainstay Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner
• Bobby Brown, who celebrated his 57th birthday on February 5 
• The legendary Bob Marley, who was born 81 years ago on February 6 
• Natalie Cole, the daughter of the legendary jazz singer and pianist Nat King Cole, who was born 76 years ago on February 6
• J. Dilla, who was born 52 years ago on February 7
• The pioneering Sister Rosetta Tharpe
• The uncompromising and trailblazing Tracy Chapman
• The legendary Roberta Flack, who was born 89 years ago on February 10
• D’Angelo, who was born 52 years ago on February 
• Bad Brains‘ founder and frontman H.R., who celebrated his 70th birthday on February 11
• Brandy, who celebrated her 47th birthday on February 11 
• Grammy Award and Brit Award-nominated artist Billy Ocean 
•  Freedom Williams, whose sonorous baritone flow was part of C+C Music Factory‘s biggest hits of the early 1990s celebrated his 60th birthday on February 13
• Maceo Parker, who celebrated his 83rd birthday on February 14.
• Holland-Dozier-Holland‘s Brian Holland, who celebrated his 85th birthday on February 15
• Ice T, the controversial pioneer of West Coast gangsta rap and of rap metal with his equally controversial metal band Body Count, who celebrated his 68th birthday on February 16
• Kamasi Washington, who celebrated his 45th birthday on February 18
• Dr. Dre, who celebrated his 61st birthday on February 18
• Seal, who celebrated his 63rd birthday on February 19
• The great Smokey Robinson celebrated his 86th birthday on February 19
• Nina Simone, who was born 93 years ago on February 21  
• Whitney Houston arguably one of the best and most memorable voices ever recorded
• Billie Holiday whose influence on jazz and pop has been towering
• Salt-N-Pepa, one of the best-selling rap acts ever 
• Al Green, the king of soul and of love songs
• Erykah Badu, who celebrated her 55th birthday on February 26
• New Orleans-born and-based singer/songwriter, pianist and rock ‘n roll pioneer Fats Domino, who was born 98 years ago on February 26 
• Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, an act that featured Sharon Jones, one of the most dynamic, larger-than-life presences of her time

Can you get any more righteous and Blackity Black than James Brown performing “Say It Loud (I’m Black and Proud)” — in Zaire, as part of a major African Diasporic-themed festival, Zaire ’74. The festival included performances by Bill Withers, B.B. King, The Spinners, Miriam Makeba, Celia Cruz and the Fania All-Stars and a lot more.

Conceived by legendary South African trumpeter Hugh Maskela and producer Stewart Levine, Zaire ’74 was intended to be a major promotional event for the heavyweight boxing championship match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, famously dubbed The Rumble in the Jungle. When Foreman suffered an injury that forced him to postpone the fight by six weeks, the festival’s intended audience of international tourists was all but wiped out. As the story goes, Levin had to decide whether or not to cancel the festival; but he eventually decided to go on with it, and 80,000 people attended.

The footage I’ve come across is incredible — and if I’m not mistaken there’s an equally fascinating documentary on it. There’s also the live album, Fania All-Stars Live in Africa, feat. Celia Cruz and Jorge Santana. All of worth your time and attention.

Brown is arguably one of the important and influential Black artists who have ever lived. Funk, soul, hip-hop, pop, disco, R&B, Aforbeat, Afrobeats, Afro pop, and rock artists of all stripes across the globe owe the soul brother #1 a debt of immense gratitude. 

I’ve got many things I could say to this administration but the first one would be “I’m Black — and I’m extremely fucking proud of it!”

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