Jeffrey Levy-Hinte was the editor for the 1996 Academy Award-winning documentary When We Were Kings, which told the story of “The Rumble in the Jungle” – the 1974 heavyweight title fight between the champion George Foreman and the challenger Muhammad Ali in Kinshasa, Zaire. What that film only touched upon, Levy-Hinte was able to put at center stage in his directorial debut. Soul Power goes behind the scenes of the three-day musical festival scheduled to coincide with the bout, but when an injury to Foreman postponed the fight, the concert had to go on as planned. The film highlights amazing live performances by the best African and African-American performers of the day, including James Brown, B.B. King, Bill Withers and Celia Cruz.
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THANK YOU FOR THE MEMORIES!
I listened to your program with all my attention as I always do with any of your programs. But this time, it was special because it was about Zaire I left 18 years ago. I was born and raised in Zaire which is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. So you can understand why I listened and loved every minute of your show today. I was 14 at the time Muhammad and Foreman fought in Zaire, but I remember clearly most of the things that happened during that time. I was living at my sister’s house in Kinshasa: they had TV and we could see everyday what was going on. But the most important thing was that we could go hang out around the stadium where the fight took place and the Intercontinental Hotel where Mohammad stayed. We argued among ourselves about statements Ali made regarding slavery, his recently changed name, oppression of black Americans, democracy and dictatorship that the U.S. government supported through Mobutu and why people didn’t like Foreman etc…
I recall how we chanted and showed our support for Ali. We read every newspapers (local and international) to learn all the juicy details about Ali, his wife at the time, Belinda, and later his mistress.
But I have to say that the most vivid memory I have of the pre-fight is the music show where James Brown taught us dance moves we knew as "jerk".
I wished I could call to share some of the things I remember about the whole event or how we Zaireans perceived things.
Anyway, thank you for the memories.
François Masuka