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History
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The Night the Godfather of Soul Saved Boston
On April 5, 1968, the day after MLK's assassination, James Brown's televised Boston concert and his plea for non-violence are credited with preventing the riots that engulfed other major U.S. cities, a landmark moment where music and leadership kept the peace.
April 4th, 1968. A day of infamy and sorrow. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the nation's leading voice for nonviolent civil rights, was assassinated in Memphis. As the news spread, a wave of grief, rage, and despair washed over the country. That wave crested into riots, with fires and violence erupting in over 100 American cities. But in Boston, a city with its own deep-seated racial tensions, the night of April 5th was different. While other cities burned, Boston remained largely calm, and the reason can be traced to a quick-thinking mayor, a public television station, and the magnetic power of the Godfather of Soul, James Brown.
A City on the Brink
James Brown and his band were scheduled to play a concert at the Boston Garden on April 5th. In the wake of Dr. King's murder, city officials were terrified. The Boston police department, and many of Mayor Kevin White's advisors, strongly urged him to cancel the event. Their fear was that bringing thousands of grieving, angry people together in one place was a recipe for a catastrophic riot. However, Tom Atkins, the city's sole black city councilman, argued the exact opposite. He warned Mayor White that canceling the concert would be seen as a betrayal and an insult to the black community, sending a message that the city didn't trust them. Canceling the show, Atkins argued, would not prevent a riot; it would guarantee one.
An Unprecedented Gamble
Caught between two disastrous options, Mayor White and his team devised a radical, last-minute plan: the concert would go on, but it would be broadcast live, citywide, and for free on the public television station, WGBH. The hope was that people would stay home to watch the show on TV instead of converging on the city center. The next hurdle was convincing James Brown himself. Televising the concert for free would decimate ticket sales, and Brown stood to lose a significant amount of money. Initially, he refused. But Mayor White, understanding the stakes, promised the city would cover Brown's potential losses, eventually securing around $60,000 in emergency funds to pay the artist's fee. Brown, recognizing the gravity of the situation, agreed. The stage was set for one of the most important performances of his life.
The Performance that Kept the Peace
That evening, Mayor White appeared on television alongside Brown to introduce the concert, asking the city to honor Dr. King's legacy of peace. As the show began, the Boston Garden was sparsely populated, but thousands were tuned in at home. Brown delivered a powerhouse performance, but the concert's defining moment came not during a song, but in a moment of chaos. A group of young fans, swept up in the energy, rushed the stage. Police immediately moved in to forcibly remove them, escalating the tension in the arena. James Brown stopped the music and took control.
Let's give the kids a chance to express themselves. We are black! Let's be proud! But we are black, we have to be orderly. Don't do that to yourself. That's not right. You're making me look bad... Step down, now, be a gentleman… You're not being fair to yourselves and me and all the other people... Now, are we together or we ain't?
He calmly asked the police to step back and spoke directly to the fans, treating them with respect and turning a volatile confrontation into a moment of unity. He had them leave the stage on their own, not as trespassers, but as respected members of his community. For the rest of the night, and in the days that followed, Brown's message of peace, pride, and self-respect echoed through Boston. His performance and his plea are widely credited with saving the city from the violence that scarred so many others, a testament to the power of one voice to calm a storm.