United States SRES 647: A 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.

Bill Text

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, tel-
evision and video director Hal Tulchin, New York Mayor
John Lindsay, and New York City Parks Commissioner
August Heckscher organized the Harlem Cultural Fes-
tival, 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 ac-
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tivists shared their art with hundreds of thousands of fel-
low 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 Her-
man 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 mo-
ments 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, Pre-
cious 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, danc-
ing, and crying along, mourning and celebrating the leg-
acy 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 au-
diences 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 cen-
ter 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 U