The Song of Hiawatha: The First Black Hippie Film Documentary - An Interview with the Creators

The Song of Hiawatha tells the story of the life and (high) times of the first black hippie. It includes original music, never seen photos, an FBI file, a letter from J. Edgar Hoover, and testimonials from Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Wayne Kramer, Niagara, John Sinclair, and others. The documentary traces Hiawatha Bailey’s path as part of the African-American “great migration” from the Deep South to Detroit in the 1950s, to “turning on” to LSD and joining a commune in 1965, and becoming the only Black member of the leftist revolutionary cadre known as the White Panthers in 1968. He served a four-year prison term, and then formed the Cult Heroes, a seminal Detroit punk rock band, in 1978. True to the time, the film floats along in a psychedelic haze as it touches on sensitive issues of race, rock, radicalism, sexual identity, prison life, and antiquated drug laws. Documents featured in the film include a letter from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, an FBI report, a landmark Supreme Court decision, a contract signed by John Lennon, previously unreleased music by Hiawatha with the Cult Heroes (including a live performance), and many never before seen photos. #punkrock #documentary #filmdocumentar #hiawathabailey #film #filmmaking #filmmaker #filmdirector #punkrockscene #LSD #popculture