The Fabulous James Brown and His Vanishing Millions

The American soul music legend James Brown, who died in December 2006, left his entire estate, more than $100 million, to educate poor children in South Carolina and Georgia. More than ten later, not a single penny has reached those children. The reason: Dozens of lawsuits, powerful judges have it out in a case involving race, class, marriage, and wild accusations, with lawyers collecting millions in legal fees, paid out of Brown’s estate.

Reporter Sue Summer of The Newberry S.C. Observer has followed the case from the beginning. Come meet her with Kevin Flynn of The New York Times, NYU Journalism Professor Charles Seife, and NYU Distinguished Writer in Residence, James McBride as the four discuss the reporting challenges of one of the most controversial music cases in recent years.

No dancing! That’s for the James Brown demo lecture, coming later in March 2017, when James McBride convenes a gathering of musicians to demonstrate why James Brown’s music is such an important part of the American musical legacy. Come to the meat and vegetable part of it first. Come learn of the great gift that the Grandfather of Soul left behind.

OW! …. I don’t feel good!

James McBride is an author, musician, and screenwriter who currently serves as an NYU Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. McBride was a  2016  recipient of The  National Humanities Medal, and the 2013 winner of the National Book Award. He recently published Kill ‘Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul.

Sue Summer has been columnist and reporter at The Newberry (S.C.) Observer, (circulation 4,000) for more than 20 years. She has been investigating and reporting on the James Brown legal case for seven years. She is described by her editor as a “journalist’s journalist.”  Her dogged coverage of the myriad of trustees, lawyers and Brown family members who have siphoned millions of dollars from Brown’s earnings that were originally left to charity, has earned her international prominence and the well-financed wrath of the legal combatants in South Carolina. This 63-year-old grandmother has been served with subpoenas three times since 2012,  demanding notes, tapes, sources, and contacts. She has refused, risking jail, and been defended by the South Carolina Free Press Association. Her reporting on the case continues, as does the harassment.

Kevin Flynn is a special projects editor at The New York Times.  He was a guiding force behind several major Times investigative forays including former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s entanglement with a prostitution ring which won a Pulitzer Prize, the spread of diabetes in New York (Pulitzer finalist) and holes in the New York State Workers’ Compensation system. His recent work involves art market fraud, the drug overdose of Prince, the criminal trial of Bill Cosby and the disputed discovery of Harper Lee’s second novel. His Dec. 2014 investigative push into the James Brown estate shoved the story into national prominence. He served as the Times police bureau chief on September 11 2001, and co-authored, with Jim Dwyer,102 Minutes, (Holt), considered the most compelling account of the attack on World Trade Center attack ever written. Flynn served  as a reporter for the New York Daily News, Newsday, and The (Stamford, Ct.) Advocate.

Charles Seife is a professor and Director of Graduate Studies for the NYU Journalism Department. He has been writing about physics and mathematics for two decades. He is the author of six books, most recently the 2014 Virtual Unreality: Just Because the Internet Told You So, How Do You Know It’s True? His work has appeared in various publications, including The Economist, Scientific American, and The New York Times. His previous work “Proofiness,” (Viking, 2010 ), about powerful techniques like numerical prophecies, polls, and mathematical falsehoods used to sway the public into swallowing untruths, is required reading for those interested in the evolution of the current imbroglio known as “Fake News.”