Kerry Gordy, an executive producer for “Sunday Best,” proclaimed that the film was an indicator of what was to come from director Sacha Jenkins.
The documentary illustrates the life and iconic career of Ed Sullivan, and demonstrates the growth and potential of Jenkins as a documentarian. The film is an intimate portrait beyond the columnist-turned-television host’s reputation for introducing audiences to future music stars on the front end of their ascension. Released on Netflix in July, “Sunday Best” reveals Sullivan to be a social justice warrior who broke barriers and took major risks in the name of racial equality.
“Before ‘Sunday Best,’ I respected and admired him,” said Gordy, a veteran entertainment executive. “Now he is a major hero of mine. I put him on the level that I put Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali because of how he championed moving the culture forward by sharing his platform with musical artists of all colors.”
Sadly, the film would be Jenkins’ last. And he wouldn’t even live to see its release. He died on May 23 from multiple system atrophy complications at the untimely age of 53.
“He was just hitting his stride,” Gordy said. “I think this was his best movie, and I loved the Rick James movie. When I say this is his best, it’s because of the cultural significance of ‘Sunday Best.’”
It was Jenkins’ work on his film “Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James” that connected the two. Gordy managed James when the funk and R&B legend was signed to Motown, the world-famous label founded by Gordy’s father Berry Gordy III.
But the relationship between the younger Gordy and James went much deeper.
“My stepfather managed Rick, when he was James Johnson,” Gordy said. “I used to step over him in the living room, because he would sleep on our floor when I was six years old. Thirty years later, he ends up signing with Motown – and I end up becoming his manager.”
Their relationship lasted until James’ death in 2004. Gordy was the perfect Rick James subject matter expert for Jenkins. “I was the natural person for them to gravitate to, because I knew all of the stories,” Gordy said.
Jenkins and Gordy paired up again for the Biz Markie doc “All Up In The Biz,” this time with Gordy as a producer. He felt like the third time [“Sunday Best”] was the charm for his creative partnership with Jenkins. “He was brilliant,” Gordy said of the multi-hyphenate hip hop journalist, author, artist, curator, publisher and filmmaker.
Gordy was especially impressed with “Sunday Best” because of how Jenkins drove home the notion that music was not just a soundtrack for the movement, but ammunition in the fight for equality. And through his show, Ed Sullivan used his musical guests to combat stereotypes – and to create cultural bridges, and genuine human connections, through a shared love of music between the millions who tuned in each week.
“It was the first place that I was able to see people that looked like us,” Gordy said. “In the 1960s there were only three [recurring] Black people on TV – Bill Cosby on ‘I-Spy,’ Greg Morris on ‘Mission Impossible’ and Diahann Carroll as ‘Julia.’”
“The Ed Sullivan Show” entertained. It was also an act of resistance.
“It was amazing what ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ did for pushing the Civil Rights Movement,” Gordy said. “He had to go through a plethora of craziness – with sponsors, broadcasters, the Ku Klux Klan and the south. He put his career, and his life, on the line to make sure he brought the best talent to all people in the United States.”
Plenty of times, that talent came courtesy of Gordy’s father’s label. The elder Gordy and Smokey Robinson helped Jenkins tell the tale of Sullivan’s impact on Motown’s success as subjects in “Sunday Best.”
Sullivan introduced the world to a teen musical prodigy to the masses who went by the name of Stevie Wonder. After his performance, Gordy said Sullivan had one question for Motown: “What else you guys got?”
Sullivan’s support had a hand in the label’s ability to shift the landscape of popular music through acts like The Temptations, The Four Tops, Diana Ross and The Supremes and The Jackson Five.
They were poised, polished and the epitome of Black Excellence long before it became a catchphrase. Audiences tuned in for the music. But through these artists, Sullivan was actually providing an advertisement for equity – a commercial that showed Black people as we see ourselves, and a counter narrative to racism and the stereotypes that fueled the ugliness of the Jim Crow era.
“The reason that it was very important for me to help make this film is because the kids of today don’t understand the struggle we went through to get here,” Gordy said.
Sullivan’s background had a hand in his recognition and appreciation for the cultural wealth that is in plain sight within the Black community.
“He grew up in Harlem, he had Black friends,” Gordy said. “And as soon as he was given a platform, he said, ‘I need to show this talent to the world.’”
“Sunday Best” is currently streaming on Netflix, for more information on the film, visit Netflix.com.
Living It content is produced with funding by the ARPA for the Arts grants program in partnership with the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis and the Community Development Administration.
