Soul Cinema Sundays screens "Wattstax" for Black Music Month!

From the venue:

In honor of Black Music Month, Soul Cinema Sundays presents the music documentary "Wattstax" with an after-film discussion featuring award-winning activist Kalonji Changa and Lecturer/Public Enemy's Minister of Information, Professor Griff. They will discuss the power of Black music to address present-day issues.

"Wattstax," called the Black "Woodstock," was a benefit concert organized by Stax Records to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the Watts Riots in the community of Watts, Los Angeles, reportedly ignited by an act of police brutality. The documentary includes performances by Stax artists like The Staple Singers, The Bar-Kays, and Issac Hayes. Interview segments feature everyday Los Angelenos and actors like Ted Lange and comedian Richard Pryor discussing issues impacting the Black community that are still relevant decades later. In 2020 the film was selected for preservation in the U.S. Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."