[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 647 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 647

  Designating the last weekend of June 2022 to commemorate the first 
weekend of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival and the first full weekend 
  of May to commemorate the final weekend of the New Orleans Jazz and 
                       Heritage Festival of 1970.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 24, 2022

   Mr. Schumer (for himself and Mr. Cassidy) submitted the following 
             resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Designating the last weekend of June 2022 to commemorate the first 
weekend of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival and the first full weekend 
  of May to commemorate the final weekend of the New Orleans Jazz and 
                       Heritage Festival of 1970.

Whereas, in the summer of 1969, singer Tony Lawrence, television and video 
        director Hal Tulchin, New York Mayor John Lindsay, and New York City 
        Parks Commissioner August Heckscher organized the Harlem Cultural 
        Festival, where some of the most famous artists of color of the 1960s 
        performed for free in Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park) in 
        Harlem, New York;
Whereas the Harlem Cultural Festival was the culmination of a movement, in which 
        Black artists, performers, and activists shared their art with hundreds 
        of thousands of fellow Americans, entertained the throngs who attended, 
        and gave voice to the political grievances of the late 1960s;
Whereas, during the weekends of June 29, July 13, July 20, July 27, August 17, 
        and August 24 in 1969, performers and activists like Nina Simone, 
        Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, Luther Vandross, Roebuck ``Pops'' Staples, 
        Edwin Hawkins, Herbie Mann, Abbey Lincoln, Max Roach, Babatunde 
        Olatunji, Ray Baretto and His Orchestra, Sonny Sharrock, Cal Tjader, 
        Mongo Santamaria, George Kirby, Don Alias, Weldon Irvine, Larry Willis, 
        Maurice King and the Soul Music Festival Band, Professor Herman Stevens 
        and the Voices of Faith, Henry Franklin, Steve Berrios, Sonny Fortune, 
        Rodgers Grant, Hadley Caliman, William Allen, Chuck Carter, Jackie 
        ``Moms'' Mabley, Dewey ``Pigmeat'' Markham, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., 
        and Marcus Garvey Jr. celebrated Black music and culture in the United 
        States and uplifted the voices of civil rights and local New York and 
        Louisiana activists;
Whereas the Harlem Cultural Festival served as a stage to express both anger and 
        hope for change, in the face of racial tensions that had bubbled over 
        during the months and years prior to the event, and included notable 
        moments such as--

    (1) Tony Lawrence inviting protestors, angered by the building of a 
government office in Harlem when the neighborhood sorely needed a new high 
school, onto the main stage to highlight their cause;

    (2) speakers like Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Marcus Garvey Jr. calling 
for racial justice and progress;

    (3) Nina Simone performing her song ``To Be Young, Gifted and Black'' 
and calling for equity; and

    (4) Mahalia Jackson singing ``Take My Hand, Precious Lord'', the song 
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's family asked her to sing at his funeral;

Whereas Mahalia Jackson's performance became a defining moment for the festival, 
        with attendees laughing, dancing, and crying along, mourning and 
        celebrating the legacy of Dr. King as they acknowledged the end of an 
        era and the beginning of a new phase in the Civil Rights Movement;
Whereas the Harlem Cultural Festival represented a shift in Black culture, 
        consciousness, and expression, and the performances of the artists 
        represented a movement away from performances designed to be palatable 
        for white audiences and toward freer expression and celebration of Black 
        art;
Whereas 1969 was a turning point, defined by--

    (1) a new generation of Black activists and artists who wanted more 
than survival and respect and wanted to flourish;

    (2) Harlem, which had long been considered the center of Black culture, 
seeing a new cultural explosion; and

    (3) the Black Power movement inspiring new styles of fashion, art, and 
music that elevated and celebrated African and Black beauty, political 
purpose, and pride;

Whereas the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969 captured the spirit of the Black 
        Power movement, as this festival--

    (1) marked the first time many of these artists had performed for such 
a large, predominately Black crowd; and

    (2) was multi-generational, as the older generation of gospel and blues 
artists invited the younger generation of soul, jazz, funk, rock, and pop 
artists to join in their performances;

Whereas the Harlem Cultural Festival showcased Black art and music from around 
        the United States, including Mahalia Jackson, who sang her unique style 
        of gospel rooted in the Deep South (especially Mississippi and Texas) 
        and influenced by the blues and jazz that surrounded her in New Orleans, 
        Louisiana, and B.B. King, who sang the Blues, a genre rooted in New 
        Orleans that spread throughout the South, whose performances mingled 
        with the jazz, pop, soul, and psychedelic funk sets of the younger 
        artists;
Whereas the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival may have inspired similar movements, 
        such as the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which was first 
        organized in 1970 to preserve and promote the music, culture, and 
        heritage of the people of Louisiana;
Whereas the 1970 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival featured renowned Black 
        artists such as Mahalia Jackson, Duke Ellington, Peter Fountain, and Al 
        Hirt;
Whereas the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival continues to showcase the 
        rich musical heritage of Louisiana as it has continued to grow in 
        popularity;
Whereas the Harlem Cultural Festival was a way to show that Harlem was more than 
        the riots that rocked it in the prior years and was a coming together of 
        unlikely allies, with Black Panthers providing security for the event 
        and a Republican New York City Mayor enthusiastically supporting the 
        festival as a peaceful moment after the violence that followed the 
        assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King;
Whereas the memory of the Harlem Cultural Festival was rescued and resuscitated 
        by the internationally acclaimed 2021 documentary ``Summer of Soul (. . 
        . Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)'', which compiled over 
        40 hours of concert video of the festival recorded by director Hal 
        Tulchin;
Whereas ``Summer of Soul (. . . Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)'' 
        highlights the cultural and political impacts of this festival by 
        juxtaposing footage from the 1969 festival with modern-day interviews 
        and voiceovers about the political environment at the time of the 
        festival;
Whereas ``Summer of Soul (. . . Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)'' 
        won an Oscar for ``Best Original Documentary'' at the 94th Academy 
        Awards on March 26, 2022, and a Grammy award for ``Best Music Film'' at 
        the 64th Annual Grammy Awards Ceremony on April 3, 2022, which brought 
        further attention and acclaim to the performances at the 1969 Harlem 
        Cultural Festival; and
Whereas the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival and the 1970 New Orleans Jazz and 
        Heritage Festival represent historic moments in Black cultural history: 
        Now, therefore be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) designates the last weekend of June 2022 to commemorate 
        the first weekend of the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969 and 
        the first full weekend of May to commemorate the final weekend 
        of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival of 1970;
            (2) recognizes the contributions of the Harlem Cultural 
        Festival of 1969 and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 
        of 1970 to Black art and culture;
            (3) encourages Senators to plan appropriate activities that 
        support the objectives of the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969 
        and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival of 1970; and
            (4) encourages local governments in the United States to 
        build partnerships with local Black artists, performers, and 
        activists to further uplift Black culture and art and promote 
        equal treatment of all people.
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