Hello. My name is Dr. Eugene Rogers and I am the Director of Choral Activities in the School of Music, Theatre and Dance. Let's talk about the role of music in black protest movements. Music and singing have always played a critical role in inspiring, mobilizing, and giving voice to protests. Protesting is a part of humanity and every confrontation with adversity is usually accompanied by songs reflecting and depicting this struggle. A protest song is a song that is associated with the movement for profound cultural and social change. The evolution of music in the black freedom struggle reflects a wide range of songs from the slaves in the 1600s to the Black Lives Matter movement songs of today. Let's take a look at protest songs of several major movements that led us to today. We begin in the 1600s when the slaves first arrived to the United States and they were unable to protest openly, which consequently led to the creation of a type of aural music communication that reflected their deep pain, their deeply rooted faith, and their hope for a better day. Songs like Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen and Ezekiel Saw the Wheel were both commentary on their current situation and hope. It was not until the early 1800s with the development of the Underground Railroad that spirituals were often used as a way of communicating with coded messages, often referred to as telescoping. When leaders like Harriet Tubman, the Moses of her people, and a leader of the Underground Railroad would arrive to capture the slaves. This was often communicated through songs like Steal Away and Wade in the Water. This eventually led us to the abolishment of slavery in 1863. However, black people status remain the same with much segregation, lynching, and unequal justice. Bringing about a grassroots organization in 1909 called the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People, also known as the NAACP. This was a bi-racial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans. Individuals like W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida Wells, and Mary Church Terrell led the charge. The powerful song, Lift Every Voice and Sing by John Rosamond Johnson, became both a coded statement of protests like the spirituals and the black national anthem of the NAACP. Next, we move to the late '50s and '60s, which brought about the civil rights movement with leaders such as Martin Luther King Junior, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, John Lewis, and many others. Dr. King wrote in his 1964 book, Why We Can't Wait, that the civil rights leaders and movement sing the freedom songs at that time, for the same reason the slaves sang them. He said, "We too are in bondage, and the songs add hope to our determination." Performers like Mahalia Jackson, Odetta, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and many others sang songs like Oh Freedom, If I Had a Hammer, and We Shall Overcome, which became an unofficial anthem of that movement. The late '60s and 1970s emerged Stokely Carmichael, who was a prominent Trinidadian organizer in the civil rights movement and is known for igniting the Black Power movement. Songs like James Brown's stirring Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud, and Nina Simone's To Be Young, Gifted, and Black, both became anthems of boldness, protest, and black empowerment. Lastly, when we think of the movements after the LA riots of 1992, the Million Man March in 1995, and the Black Lives Matter movement of the 2000s, hip hop and R&B artists continue to protest, express their frustration, and in some instances, provide encouragement. Songs like Stevie Wonder's Conversation Peace, All for One and One for All, for the Million Man March, and John Legend and Common's Glory, written both as a commentary on the Selma march of the '60s and the Black Lives Matter movement of the 2000s continue to unite, empower, and educate the world about the cultural dimensions of the black struggle. As long as there is adversity, protest songs, both new and old, will continue to be a part of our American story.
