Week 10-12

Literature/ Desire 

Week 10-12

5. What were the links between black protest music and revolutionary political movements, such as the Black Panthers, in the 1960’s and how did things play out then and into the 1970’s?

The 1960’s Black Civil rights movement marks a monumental pivotal moment in American History. A stance made against the segregation of the blacks and whites, and severe oppression caused in the face of overt racism towards the African Americans. The 60’s decade saw a huge wave of cultural and political upheaval. The 1961 election placing John F. Kennedy as President of the United States saw a sense of hope within the black community for progress on civil rights (John F. Kennedy Library, n.d). However, due to Kennedy’s assassination just two years later in 1963, it sent the whole nation into shock, especially Black America sparking the abrupt push for racial equality. (Allen, 2013)

A movement primarily led by Martin Luther King and Malcolm X; two historical figures, each sharing the common traits of religion and politics to work in hand for the civil rights of their people. Baptist minister Martin Luther King, was known for his non violent and civil disobedience tactics, deeply rooted to his Christian beliefs. However, in comparison to Malcolm X who was of the Nation of Islam Faith, (NOI) often challenged those ideals of King, urging his followers to defend themselves against white supremacy “by any means necessary” (History Channel, 2019). However, Malcolm X was often judged on his extremist views that often led violent outbursts at protest rallies. 

As Martin Luther King was a notable minister of the Christian church, he had huge crowds of followers attentively listening to every word he said. However, his services were not limited to spoken word, but also the power of gospel music, calling them freedom songs stating “the freedom songs are playing a strong and vital role in our struggle” (Longwood, 2013). For centuries, blacks carried their stories of oppression through songs such as ‘Oh Freedom!’, ‘Go down Moses’ or ‘Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around’. Therefore, it was no surprise that black artist during the 60’s such as Sam Cooke, Nina Simone, James Brown and Aretha Franklin among many others released freedom songs that were sung during testing times of protest (Longwood, 2013). 

The Black civil rights movement allowed music to become a medium of deep expression, much like preaching was for Martin Luther King and his faith using gospel music as a form of peaceful protest. Its evident music was a strong focal point in uniting mass communities to speak their suppressed truths no matter the consequence.        As this carried over into the 70’s, soul and disco music dominated that era, playing a huge influence on the black community bringing artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Freda Payne, Sam Cooke, Stevie Wonder and all of the MoTown artists. (Wikipedia, n.d) 

7. what kind of protest song/rap/other media have come out in the last decade? Is there a spirit of protest anymore?

The spirit of protest is still very much alive in rap and hip hop music. However, much like the early history of fugitive slaves in the nineteenth century, to the civil rights movement in the 60’s, the evolution of black music has had a huge impact on rap and hip hop music today. The 90’s rap era introduces a vast range of rappers such as Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls or N.W.A. The nature of the songs often caused radio stations and MTV to refuse playing their songs, because of the explicit language and hard core tracks. But behind all of that, these rappers were speaking on major issues from police brutality, racism against blacks in America, poverty, violence, the list goes on (Kennedy, 2017). 

Kanye West who ideally is a creative genius has taken samples from the archive ‘Strange Fruit’ by Billie Holiday, dating back to the late 30’s in the jazz age. A song that is noted as the first great protest song in history, which was ultimately about the torturing method of lynching. As we are aware that this was not the first instance of protest music, it was one of the first to send a message on a political issue in an area of entertainment (Lynskey, 2011). This can be seen in his 2013 song ‘Blood on the leaves’ from his album Yeezy, with Holiday’s ‘Strange Fruit’.

Many African Americans still continue to release protest music, and I believe will always do so as it is their platform to speak out on universal issues that need awareness or carry importance. A few examples are Childish Gambino’s ‘This is America’ about gun violence in America, Joey Bada$$ ‘Land of the Free’ about the state of America and how their minorities are treated, and YG’s ‘FDT’ about Doanald Trump. 

References:

Allen, C. (2013) How John F Kennedy’s assassination spurred the drive of racial equality. Retrieved May 28, 2019. From https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/19/john-f-kennedy-assassination-racial-equality-jfk

History Channel. (2019) Malcolm X. Retrieved May 28, 2019. From https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/malcolm-x

John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. (n.d) Civil Rights Movement. Retrieved May 27, 2019. From https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/civil-rights-movement

Kennedy. G, D. (2017) The moment N.W.Z changed the music world. Retrieved May 30, 2019. From https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-nwa-parental-discretion-20171205-htmlstory.html

Longwood. (2013) The Impact of Music on the Civil Rights Movement. Retrieved May 28, 2019. From http://blogs.longwood.edu/musicblog2/2013/03/28/hello-world/

Lynskey, D. (2011) Strange fruit: the first great protest song. Retrieved May 29, 2019. From https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/feb/16/protest-songs-billie-holiday-strange-fruit

Wikipedia. (n,d) Protest songs in the United States. Retrieved May 29, 2019. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protest_songs_in_the_United_States#1970s;_The_Vietnam_War,_soul_music