ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke

This documentary brought up some intense feelings. The racism, small-mindedness, and unfairness of America in the 50s and 60s, especially in the South, that denied the full expression of so many great artists and activists is disgusting.

‍

When white Americans began killing the outspoken black people of that time like Jessie Belvin, Emmet Till, Malcom X, and Medgar Evers, Sam Cooke stepped up. He wanted black people to wear their hair naturally, he wanted to provide healthy role models of Black masculinity and success, and incite hope in the young people that a better future was possible.

‍

Which makes the circumstances around his death suspicious as heck. Like his friends, I believe that the details of his killing were faked and manipulated. We’ll never know the truth of what happened, though, because of the racist assumptions and investigative shenanigans of the LAPD. I think the truth is that Sam Cooke was getting too powerful and white supremacists decided that he had to stopped.

‍

Sam Cooke, who is sometimes called “the father of soul music" was an exceptional singer and songwriter. He was courageous, enterprising, and proud.

‍

This documentary provides a peek into the way the music business was run back then (a sort of white mafia); what black musicians had to deal with related to ownership rights, gigging, and getting paid.

‍

At that time if black people made moves to do things their own way, retaining power and money, they faced terrible, sometimes deadly, opposition. Many were killed and others had to leave the country to protect themselves, mentally and artistically. It was a dangerous time to be speaking truth to power.

‍

This documentary does a great job of showing us who Sam Cooke was. The ‘two killings” referred to in the title are his physical death and the death of what he stood for. But even with the blatant murdering that was going on, the drive for civil rights in America was not so easy to extinguish.

‍

The killing of Sam Cooke contributed to the Watts Riot in 1965. And his song “A Change is Gonna Come”, which was released two weeks after his passing, is still so powerful that it is considered the #1 Protest Song of All Time.

This is heart-breaking and frustrating, but Sam Cooke is someone to be celebrated and remembered.

‍