The night Dr. King is assassinated, a young city councilman negotiates against the clock with the mayor, police department, a TV station and James Brown, to broadcast Brown’s concert the next day as a means of keeping the peace

SYNOPSIS:

It’s early April, 1968, and James Brown is coming to play the Boston Garden on Good Friday. Soul Brother Number One is at the peak of his powers, and the teenagers love him. They even listen to him- more than they do their own parents. It’s the hottest ticket in Roxbury, it’s all radio deejays talk about. On the eve of the show, as kids are copping new outfits, and scheming how to get or scalp tickets, Dr. King is assassinated. Unrest grips most Eastern cities. Boston grieves. But what about the show? And what about the streets? Boston’s Roxbury section had burning and looting two years earlier when police forcibly removed Black mothers from a protest in a housing department building. Distrust between Boston’s Black population and law enforcement was high.

A Black city councilperson named Tommie Atkins hatches an idea. Problem is he can’t make it happen alone. What if the show goes on, but is televised live, as a means of maybe keeping the peace? Ticket holding teens can still enjoy James, and tv viewers could be encouraged to stay inside. To pull this off, Atkins will need a tv station, and James’ approval. In Soul Power, as troubled teens wonder what will become of their city, and parents worry about their childrens’ safety, show or no show, for the first time, moviegoers will go behind the scenes at WGBH Boston, as Atkins negotiates with the public tv affiliate for air time, and tries to convince Brown, who had prepared for an arena show, to perform live before cameras. In addition, Brown has a contract to use video of the Boston Garden concert for an upcoming tv special for summer 1968. Atkins also has to win over Mayor Kevin White (who never heard of Brown). The mayor has to coordinate with his police department, because Garden security will have to be tight as a drum. What if 13,000 kids show up, leave the show excited, and still riot?

SOUL POWER