The Night James Brown Saved Boston

The Night that James Brown Saved Boston had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX. It is scheduled to appear on VH1 on April 5, the 40th anniversary of the event that it marks. There is probably been no more difficult year in modern American history than 1968. There may have been no worse moment than the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis on April 4, 1968. As cities around the country were burning, James Brown managed to prevent the chaos from tearing apart the racial divided city of Boston.

The film documents that remarkable concert and the politics around it. Boston Mayor Kevin White and his colleagues almost by accident realized that by televising the James Brown concert they could keep people indoors that night prevent widespread rioting. The film is almost testimony to the power of music in general and the power of James Brown's music in particular. The film is a tribute to the Godfather of Soul and the role he would come to play in working for civil rights.

This is a film that should be seen by students everywhere in an effort to understand one of the more dramatic moments in history of a great American city. James Brown may be gone, but his music and his contributions will live on forever.