Anniversary of Asbury Park civil unrest garners music scholarships

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the civil unrest in Asbury Park. The riots from the July 4th weekend in 1970 tore a city and the state of New Jersey in half. The damage to both the infrastructure and race relations in Asbury Park was intense and overwhelming. There was one force that kept the thread of survival alive from pure and total devastation. It was music, music saved Asbury Park.

The movie Asbury Park, Riot, Redemption, Rock and Roll depicts those times in Asbury Park in 1968 through 1971 where music on the Jersey Shore got its legs and catapulted several of New Jersey’s favorite sons into Rock and Roll stardom and landed them smack in the middle of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

This is the story of Bruce Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt, Southside Johnny, Clarence Clemons, David Sancious and others. It’s the story of how there was no race barrier in music, how the respect of another's talent took a blind eye to the color of their skin. The story of the unrest, riots and tension that literally boiled over on that July 4th weekend to a level that was never expected.

But it's also the story of how Asbury Park came back and now pays it forward to the young and upcoming musicians who finally have a place to learn about music in a place where a big part of Rock and Roil history was carved out.

I had the pleasure of narrating this fine film; Asbury Park, Riot, Redemption, Rock and Roll. The film aired on New Jersey PBS stations this past Sunday.

Tom Jones the director, writer and creator of the movie is making the film available for free on YouTube now through August 31, 2020. POP Music Foundation is awarding three scholarships this month to three outstanding students of the LakeHouse Music Academy through the Asbury Park Music Foundation in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the civil unrest in Asbury Park.

You can help the Asbury Park Music Foundation continue the programs and scholarships to those young teens and children who appreciate the art of music at The LakeHouse Music Academy in Asbury Park.

It’s a powerful story with a wonderful, hopeful future. Please see the movie and help The Asbury Park Music Foundation continue its awesome work.