My Review of "Summer Of Soul (...Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) is a piece of American history that has been swept under the carpet until now. It speaks about the Harlem Soul Festival of 1969. The footage of the festival was recorded and thousands of people were in attendance. It makes you wonder how and why this festival went unnoticed for over 50 years!

The documentary starts off with an explanation of Harlem's Soul Festival of 1969. It was the same year as Woodstock but yet this festival didn't have nearly the same coverage. The festival wasn't even far away as it was in the middle of Harlem.

This documentary does a good job in explaining the socioeconomic situation of Harlem and the USA at the time. They go into detail into the suffering and change in social dynamics of black Americans at the time. There were many in poverty and it looked like an area that was forgotten by the rest of New York as they had a ton of abandoned buildings.

Harlem is and was a very diverse neighborhood. Soul festival was a celebration of not only black American music but Latin and African music as well. This documentary explores the cultural significance of the genres of music that were played at the time. All of the frustrations and strength of the people were fully displayed in the music and it was a true changing of the guards.

Black American music and culture was having a significant revolution at the time. They were taking back their culture and starting to understand the beauty within their culture and themselves as people. These artists that performed for them at the festival was fuel to build the confidence of the community.

In the crowd you'd see a wide array of different fashion styles. Some were still in the old suits a la Motown. Then you have people wearing dashikis and other garments to show their black pride. In the past black Americans were stigmatized for growing out their hair. One of the major changes in those times was the normalization of growing out their hair.

There were many activists that surrounded this festival and for good reason. They were there to remind black Americans that they have strength to fight oppression. Their significance to the festival was just as powerful as the artists themselves. In those times it was even tougher to have such a festival so they needed all the help they could get. Activists knew the importance of this festival so they aided with musical talents and even security protection.

The biggest shock was that no one has seen the festival video footage for over 50 years. You could see some of the participants in the documentary in tears because they believe that they dreamed some of the things they saw. It was as if it was erased from history. Such a huge cultural moment isn't easily erased. There was a lot of influences that prevented exposure of the festival.

That's why I'm really glad that they were able to release it. There was a ton of talent displayed in this documentary with some artists you probably haven't even heard of. The documentary does a good job in describing each of the artists and giving some context to their cultural significance to the festival.

It's an exploration into the rich beautiful culture within Harlem that not a lot of people are privy to. Even worse this culture has been tucked away from the rest of the world to see. This documentary does a good job in showing us all of the vibrant color and talent that comes from this small neighborhood in New York.

Although many people that are into cultural exploration will likely view this film I think this film does a good job in making the subject matter inclusive. They break down everything they talk about in a very simple and concise way so that everyone can enjoy and understand the concepts they are trying to tell us. It's a film for everyone and I think it's some good American history that needs to be heard.

Overall, I really enjoyed this documentary. This film had me fall really deep into the stories of each of the artists. The music and visuals of the documentary although over 50 years old still contains all the vigor and vibrancy that it did back in the day. I have to give this film an 8 out of 10. This is best watched by music lovers of all genres.