The 1973 documentary was based around the 1972 Wattstax music festival and the black community of Watts in Los Angeles, California. The concert was held at the Los Angeles Coliseum on August 20, 1972, and organized by Memphis, Tennessee Stax Records to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Watts riots. Wattstax was seen by some as "the Afro-American answer to Woodstock. To enable as many members of the black community in L.A. to attend as possible, tickets were sold for only $1.00 each. The Reverend Jesse Jackson gave the invocation, which included his "I Am - Somebody" poem.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIP4E3cKY9o&hl=en&fs=1&]