Hand in Hand: Music & Protest
Music and protest have gone hand in hand since the beginning of civilized society. Music moves people to do things that spoken word alone cannot. It creates a feeling inside that is so powerful that it drives change. Music is something that brings people together and creates discussion and addresses issues and drives the movement forward.
As I was preparing to write this post I was researching the history of protest music, especially the history of American protest music and I found some articles that talk about it much better than I can so I am just going to link them here.
Vox - "The history of American protest music, from "Yankee Doodle" to Kendrick Lamar" https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/4/12/14462948/protest-music-history-america-trump-beyonce-dylan-misty
AXS - "Songs of the Civil Rights Movement" https://www.axs.com/songs-of-the-civil-rights-movement-74297
Music says things that cannot be described with just words, as I stated before. It is often the soundtrack to change, or even the call to action. History shows that music moves as it has brought injustice to the spotlight time after time. During the '60s-'70s Vietnam was in full swing and so was politically charged music from the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival and more. The music moved the masses creating the peace movement that accompanied the anti-war movement. These movements-fueled by outspoken musicians-put pressure on the government to pull out of the war after losing thousands of troops. The 1992 LA uprising was fueled by a new era of music that pushed the issues to the forefront with wordplay and brutal honesty that had not been heard before and was impossible to ignore. Rap music was at the forefront of the uprising creating a statement by being apologetically assertive. Black voices and experiences were to be heard and they were to be heard clearly. Sadly after the uprising there hasn't been enough change. The music alone isn't enough, but the music must never stop.
The people of America are once more speaking out against injustice. Police brutality, systemic oppression and racism, and centuries of inequality must be addressed. As a white man from a rural Missouri town, I didn't experience much diversity growing up; and it took me going to college to learn about the different realities for others in America. I began reaching out to young creatives in Kansas City to collaborate with on podcasts and other projects. They invited me into their home and invited me into their hearts and they opened my eyes to the differences in our American experiences. They have been looked at differently and treated differently than myself their whole lives just because of the color of their skin. That is something that I have never gone through in my life because of my privilege. Because of my privilege I will speak up and educate myself on things that I have never had to live through. I will never fully understand what black people go through everyday in America but I will stand up for equality and change.
One thing that can't be argued is that black musicians have almost single-handedly shaped music into what it is today. We have to be thankful that great black musicians gave us the blues, rock n' roll, funk, jazz, hip-hop, electronic, country music... the list could go on and on. Music history is black history. Black music is the foundation of American music. Everything from the rhythm and melodies to the cadence of the vocals and honestly the sound of the music itself.
To help you further educate yourself on the topic of music history here are a couple sources to check out:
Although music alone cannot create the change that we need to see take place, it is important in the process as a way to vocalize feelings and as a way to escape for a moment to regather and regroup mentally. Please take the time to listen (I say listen because listening and hearing are two different things) to what is being said and to educate yourself on the topics and issues at hand.
I want to use the remainder of this post to share playlists made to support black artists.
AmplifyMelanatedVoices by David Schools
Black Indie by Larissa Dias
For Us by Muenfua Lewis
Thanks for sharing these playlists. Busy Bee Brazilian Wax. I like your article about MUSIC & PROTEST
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