[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 90 (Tuesday, May 24, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2667]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESOLUTION 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

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

                              S. Res. 647

       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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