When James Brown stopped a riot
explains how the singer stepped in while on stage in Boston after Martin Luther King’s murder
They were young and, under the spotlights at Boston Garden, looked startled and unsure of themselves. But, to the armed cops charging from the wings, the stage invaders represented a clear-andpresent danger to peace, justice and the American way of life. A terrifying hush descended as the police stomped on, and the young men who’d swarmed up from the floor tensed. Violence seemed imminent.
But then James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, made his way forward and waved away the riot squad. “Wait a minute, wait a minute now WAIT!” Brown told the dozen or more audience members who had rushed his show. “Step down, now, be a gentleman…. Now, I asked the police to step back, because I think I can get some respect from my own people.”
With his intervention, the atmosphere changed. The interlopers rejoined the audience, the police retreated.
It was April 5 1968, the day after Martin Luther King, the civil rights leader, had been shot dead. In New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Washington DC and elsewhere, horror and grief had led to protests and then to violence. Today, as America is engulfed by riots following the police killing of 46-year-old George Floyd, footage of the 1968 unrest feels eerily familiar. Then as now, local politicians were terrified that the violence would spread to their city. And none more so than Boston mayor Kevin White. Not only did the city have a large, disenchanted African-american community, largely confined to the municipality of Roxbury, James Brown was booked to play that night at the Boston Garden, bang in the middle of town.
“His concert might bring 20,000 black people into the city,” White would say. “It had too much emotion in it.”
White’s first instinct was to call off the show. But, instead, it was suggested the concert be aired live on local television. The calculation was that people who might otherwise have taken to the streets would instead stay at home and watch Brown. White was persuaded, and the broadcaster WGBH agreed to carry the show at short notice. Now all they had to do was convince James Brown.
The 34-year-old singer reacted with fury. “If you put the show on TV for free, who’s going to come?” he said. “I’ll do it if the [city] can promise me some money.” After some negotiation, the parties agreed to a reported payment of $10,000.
And Brown was correct: fans did stay away. In the end, only 1,500 filed into the 14,000-capacity venue. Nevertheless, Brown performed his set with all his usual enthusiasm. In the largely empty room, the atmosphere turned increasingly ebullient, and all across Boston people, black and white, stayed at home, glued to their sets.
As the end loomed, a young man from the audience tried to join Brown. A policeman appeared from nowhere and shoved him off. In response, a group of teenagers invaded the stage. More police arrived. The band stopped. Everything – the show, Boston, maybe even Brown’s career – was on a knife edge.
“I’m all right, I’m all right,” said the singer, indicating to the police that they should retreat. “I want to shake their hands.”
With the cops exiting, he addressed the stage invaders. “We are black! Don’t make us all look bad! Let me finish the show,” he said. “You’re not being fair to yourself or me or your race. Now, I asked the police to step back because I thought I could get some respect from my own people. Are we together or are we ain’t?”
They heard his words and left and the performance resumed. In the wings, Kevin White called WGBH: could they repeat the broadcast in full at 11pm? They did and in Boston, the evening went off largely peacefully.
A few days later, the Mayor of Washington called on Brown to speak out against rioting, which he was happy to do. The following month, he attended a White House state dinner.
These gestures were not universally welcomed by the African-american community. While some applauded his leadership, others accused him of pandering to the establishment. Brown, though, was in no doubt where he stood – later that year he poured his feelings into a new single. Its title? Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud.