Touted as the “Black Woodstock”, Wattstax brought in over 100,000 local attendees and celebrated African American culture, unity and pride within the community, which at the time was recovering from the violent Watts riots that had taken place six years earlier.
The benefit concert featured important civil rights leaders within the community, including Jesse Jackson, and performances by top recording artists, Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, Kim Weston, Rufus Thomas and The Soul Children.