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news.yahoo.com]
Is it "our" Dean Goodman ? I guess so.
By Dean Goodman
Mon Dec 25, 4:29 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, James Brown.
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The "Godfather of Soul," who died in Atlanta on Monday aged 73, was one of the most important leaders of America's civil rights movement during the second half of the 20th Century.
He communed with presidents and elected officials of all political stripes, recorded groundbreaking black-pride anthems, and may have saved Boston from being burned by rioters in the days following the assassination of Martin Luther King.
He took hits from both sides. The white establishment was terrified that a seventh-grade school dropout from South Carolina might be fomenting a revolution. Black radicals were appalled that he would sing a tune like "America is My Home," dine at the White House and employ white band members.
His funky 1968 anthem "Say it Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud" preached economic self-reliance and taught generations of hard-working blacks it was time to "get our share."
"We'd rather die on our feet than be livin' on our knees," he sang.
"Back then, black folks were called negroes, but James said you can say it loud, that being black is a great thing instead of something you have to apologize for," rapper Chuck D. of the group Public Enemy said in 2003.
Brown recorded the song live during an all-night session in a Hollywood studio. He sent out for help from some neighborhood children who answered, "I'm black and I'm proud," every time he called out, "Say it Loud." Brown later recalled that most of the kids were white or Asian.
He had mixed emotions about the song, describing it as "obsolete," if necessary for the times, and said he shouldn't have to teach people they should be proud. Many whites stopped coming to his shows.
A few months before that, King was assassinated and cities across America engulfed by riots. Brown may have singlehandedly saved Boston from burning. A day after the April 4 murder, he was scheduled to play a concert there. Nervous city fathers proposed canceling the show until wiser heads pointed out that angry ticket buyers would definitely cause mayhem.
Brown arranged with the local public television station to broadcast the concert live, and he went on the radio to urge fans to stay home and watch it for free. The city's black neighborhoods were eerily quiet as a moist-eyed Brown took to the stage of the Boston Garden and punctuated his funky soul tunes with remembrances of King and appeals for calm.
The day after the Boston show, Brown flew to Washington D.C., which had been badly hit by riots. Once again, he took to the airwaves to appeal for restraint and to declare that education and ownership were better ways to seek justice.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-12-26 11:49 by The Joker.