III 

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 acVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:22 May 25, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR647.ATS SR647

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tivists 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; 


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(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 


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(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 

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olence 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 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) designates the last weekend of June 2022 

3 to commemorate the first weekend of the Harlem 

4 Cultural Festival of 1969 and the first full weekend 


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1 of May to commemorate the final weekend of the 

2 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival of 1970; 

3 (2) recognizes the contributions of the Harlem 

4 Cultural Festival of 1969 and the New Orleans Jazz 

5 and Heritage Festival of 1970 to Black art and cul6 ture; 

7 (3) encourages Senators to plan appropriate ac8 tivities that support the objectives of the Harlem 

9 Cultural Festival of 1969 and the New Orleans Jazz 

10 and Heritage Festival of 1970; and 

11 (4) encourages local governments in the United 

12 States to build partnerships with local Black artists, 

13 performers, and activists to further uplift Black cul14 ture and art and promote equal treatment of all peo15 ple. 

Æ 


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