James Brown calms Boston following the King assassination
On the morning after the assassination of Dr.Martin Luther King Jr.city officials in Boston Massachusetts were scrambling to prepare for an expected second straight night of violent unrest.
Similar preparations were being made in cities across America including in the nations capital where armed units of the regular Army patrolled outside the White House and U.S.Capitol following President Johnsons state-of-emergency declaration.But Boston would be nearly alone among Americas major cities in remaining quiet and calm that turbulent Friday night thanks in large part to one of the least quiet and calm musical performers of all time.
On the night of April 5 1968 James Brown kept the peace in Boston by the sheer force of his music and his personal charisma.Browns appearance that night at the Boston Garden had been scheduled for months but it nearly didnt happen.Following a long night of riots and fires in the predominantly black Roxbury and South End sections of the city Bostons young mayor Kevin White gave serious consideration to canceling an event that some feared would bring the same kind of violence into the citys center.The racial component of those fears was very much on the surface of a city in which school integration and mandatory busing had played a major role in the recent mayoral election.
Mayor White faced a politically impossible choice anger black Bostonians by canceling Browns concert over transparently racial fears or antagonize the law-and-order crowd by simply ignoring those fears.The idea that resolved the mayors dilemma came from a young African American city councilman name Tom Atkins who proposed going on with the concert but finding a way to mount a free live broadcast of the show in the hopes of keeping most Bostonians at home in front of their TV sets rather than on the streets.Atkins and White convinced public television station WGBH to carry the concert on short notice but convincing James Brown took some doing.Due to a non-compete agreement relating to an upcoming televised concert Brown stood to lose roughly 60000 if his Boston show were televised.
Ever the savvy businessman James Brown made his financial needs known to Mayor White who made the very wise decision to meet them.The broadcast of Browns concert had the exact effect it was intended to as Boston saw less crime that night than would be expected on a perfectly normal Friday in April.There was a moment however when it appeared that the plan might backfire.As a handful of young male fansmost but not all of them blackbegan climbing on stage mid-concert white Boston policemen began forcefully pushing them back.
Sensing the volatility of the situation Brown urged the cops to back away from the stage then addressed the crowd.Wait a minute wait a minute now WAIT Brown said.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.Brown successfully restored order while keeping the police away from the crowd and continued the successful peacekeeping concert in honor of the slain Dr.
King on this day in 1968.
