The Godfather Of Soul Talks After MLK...

My place card at the White House dinner said: "Thanks much for what you are doing for your country - LBJ." I think that upset some people because they thought it was like a pat on the head for helping cool off the riots. I don't think they understood everything I had been doing-the stay-in-school campaign, the lobbying with the vice president about job programs, and things like that. And in less than a month-the dinner was on May 8-1 was going to Vietnam to entertain the troops.
I also had a song, a patriotic song, about to come out called "America Is My Home." I called it my contribution to "the long cool summer." I didn't know it at the time, but that record was going to disturb a lot of people. They were going to get very heavy with me over that song. Today, all anybody says about it is that it was the first rap record.
The state dinner was in honor of the prime minister of Thailand. Besides him and President Johnson, there were senators, congressmen, and other government officials: Vice President Humphrey, Senator Birch Bayh, Senator Sam Ervin, Representative John Anderson, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford, Eugene and Walter Rostow, William Bundy, General Maxwell Taylor, Cyrus Vance, and a lot more. Edward Bennett Williams, Earl Wilson, Allen Drury, and a few other private citizens were also there.
I was standing in a group with the president and others when Earl Wilson, the columnist, said, "Won't they call you Uncle Tom for doing this?"
" No," I said.
"Why not?"
"Because I'm not." And Mr. Johnson winked his eye.
I didn't talk to Mr. Johnson very much. He was eating a lot of food. That man was hungry. I was honored to be there, but mostly I was just interested because I was getting ready to go to Asia and most of the people at the dinner were concerned with what was going on there. The president had just said he wouldn't run for re-election. He had stopped the bombing and was about to send some people over to start peace talks. I think he really wanted peace, but I think he wanted to reassure Thailand, too. He got up to toast the prime minister and said, "We will never abandon our commitment or compromise the future of Asia at the negotiating table."
During the meal I was seated on the other side of the room from Mr. Humphrey. Afterward, a Secret Service man came to my table and said, "The Vice President of the United States would like to see you at his table." It sounded like an order.
"Please inform the vice president," I said, "that James Brown is not his boy. I will not walk across the room to his table." The Secret Service man looked shook up now. "But you can tell him," I said, smiling a big crocodile smile, "that I'll meet him halfway."
The Secret Service man looked like he didn't believe what he was hearing. He stood there for a minute, then walked across the room, with me watching him the whole way. He leaned down and whispered to Mr. Humphrey. When he was finished, Mr. Humphrey caught my eye and started laughing. We met halfway.
It was all in good fun, but I was not his boy. I had been thinking about the election a lot since Mr. Johnson withdrew. Mr. Humphrey hadn't really jumped into it that strong yet, and I had just about decided to endorse Senator Robert Kennedy. He was a good man and was doing very well in the primaries, and I thought he was going to get the nomination eventually. He was a young man with young ideas, and at that time we needed a leader that young people could identify with. I didn't discuss my plans with Mr. Humphrey that night, but I intended to explain it to him before I went public with it.
I talked a lot that night about Martin, like I had been doing all along on my concert tour that season. "He was our hero. We have an obligation to try to fulfill his dream of true brotherhood," I said. "You can't accomplish anything by blowing up, burning up, stealing and looting. Don't terrorize. Organize. Don't burn. Give kids a chance to learn. Go home. Look at TV. Listen to the radio. Listen to some James Brown records. The real answer to race problems in this country is education. Be ready. Be qualified. Own something. Be somebody. That's Black Power."
from the autobiography of the
influential singer who died Dec. 25, 2006 and was honored across
the nation last week.

James Brown: The Godfather of Soul
by James Brown and Bruce Tucker
Collier MacMilan 1986