Editing James Brown (section)

===Civil rights and self-reliance===
Though Brown performed at benefit rallies for civil rights organizations in the mid-1960s, Brown often shied away from discussing civil rights in his songs in fear of alienating his crossover audience. In 1968, in response to a growing urge of [[Opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War|anti-war advocacy during the Vietnam War]], Brown recorded the song, "[[America Is My Home]]". In the song, Brown performed a [[rapping|rap]], advocating patriotism and exhorting listeners to "stop pitying yoursel[ves] and get up and fight". At the time of the song's release, Brown had been performing for troops stationed in Vietnam.

====The Boston Garden concert====
On April 5, 1968, a day after the [[assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.]] in Memphis, Tennessee, Brown provided a free citywide televised concert at the [[Boston Garden]] to maintain public order and calm concerned Boston residents, over the objections of the police chief, who wanted to call off the concert, which he thought would incite violence.<ref name="pc51" /> The show was later released on DVD as ''[[Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968]]''. According to the documentary ''The Night James Brown Saved Boston'', then-mayor [[Kevin White (mayor)|Kevin White]] had strongly restrained the Boston police from cracking down on minor violence and protests after the assassination, while religious and community leaders worked to keep tempers from flaring.<ref name="vh1nightjbsavedbos">[http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/vh1_rock_docs/134183/episode_about.jhtml "The Night James Brown Saved Boston"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090310185153/http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/vh1_rock_docs/134183/episode_about.jhtml |date=March 10, 2009 }}. ''VH1 rockDocs''.</ref> 

White arranged to have Brown's performance broadcast multiple times on Boston's public television station, [[WGBH-TV|WGBH]], thus keeping potential rioters off the streets, watching the concert for free.<ref name="vh1nightjbsavedbos" /> Angered by not being told of this, Brown demanded $60,000 for "gate" fees, money he thought would be lost from ticket sales on account of the concert being broadcast for free, and then threatened to go public about the secret arrangement when the city balked at paying up afterwards, news of which would have been a political death blow to White and spark riots of its own.<ref name="vh1nightjbsavedbos" /> White eventually lobbied a behind-the-scenes power-brokering group known as "The Vault" to come up with money for Brown's gate fee and other social programs, contributing $100,000. Brown received $15,000 from them via the city. White also persuaded management at the Garden to give up their share of receipts to make up the differences.<ref name="vh1nightjbsavedbos" /> Following this successful performance, Brown was counseled by President Johnson to urge cities ravaged from riots following King's assassination to not resort to violence, telling them to "cool it, there's another way".{{sfn|''Jet''|1971|p=54}}

Responding to pressure from black activists, including [[H. Rap Brown]], to take a bigger stance on their issues and from footage of [[black on black crime]] committed in inner cities, Brown wrote the lyrics to the song "[[Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud]]", which his bandleader [[Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis]] accompanied with a musical composition. Released late that summer, the song's lyrics helped to make it an anthem for the civil rights movement. Brown only performed the song sporadically following its initial release, and later stated he had regrets about recording it, saying in 1984, "Now 'Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud' has done more for the black race than any other record, but if I had my choice, I wouldn't have done it, because I don't like defining anyone by race. To teach race is to teach separatism."{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=95}} In his autobiography he stated:

<blockquote>The song is obsolete now ... But it was necessary to teach pride then, and I think the song did a lot of good for a lot of people ... People called "Black and Proud" militant and angry – maybe because of the line about dying on your feet instead of living on your knees. But really, if you listen to it, it sounds like a children's song. That's why I had children in it, so children who heard it could grow up feeling pride ... The song cost me a lot of my crossover audience. The racial makeup at my concerts was mostly black after that. I don't regret it, though, even if it was misunderstood.{{sfn|Brown|Tucker|1986|p=280}}</blockquote>

In 1969, Brown recorded two more songs of social commentary, "[[World (James Brown song)|World]]" and "[[I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing]]", the latter song pleading for equal opportunity and self-reliance rather than entitlement. In 1970, in response to some black leaders for not being outspoken enough, he recorded "[[Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved]]" and "[[Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing]]". In 1971, he began touring Africa, including Zambia and Nigeria. He was made "freeman of the city" in [[Lagos, Nigeria]], by Oba Adeyinka Oyekan, for his "influence on black people all over the world".{{sfn|''Jet'' |1971|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=e7EDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA59 59]}} With his company, James Brown Enterprises, Brown helped to provide jobs for blacks in business in the communities.{{sfn|''Jet'' |1971|p=60}} As the 1970s continued, Brown continued to record songs of social commentary, most prominently 1972's "[[King Heroin]]" and the two-part ballad "Public Enemy", which dealt with drug addiction.