This was at the height of the Civil Rights movement and the same year Dr. "Say it loud, I’m Black and I’m proud," became an affirmation recited far and wide specifically in such a turbulent year as 1968. "Say It Loud," James Brown (1968)īeing proud to be Black was almost a foreign concept commercially during this time and James Brown took the lead on empowering Black people all across the world.
But before this moment, there were a few of the songs that have been at the center of protest, revolution, and radical political change over the years.
That tradition of music has continued over centuries as each new movement-specifically involving the fight for self-love, equality, and fair treatment for Black Americans-creates its own soundtrack.Ģ020 will see its own host of songs that highlight the times, from Meek Mill’s "The Otherside of America" to H.E.R.'s "I Can’t Breathe," which she recently premiered in her performance for IHeartRadio’s Living Room Concert Series. For slaves, it was a form of communication and later became so much more. It only continued after men and women were captured and enslaved in the U.S through the Middle Passage. Music has always been deeply rooted in African culture. The current state of unrest in the United States surrounding the violent treatment of Black people and people of color at the hands of police has caused a resurgence of music addressing the current state of affairs directly in lyrics and tone.Īs we celebrate Juneteenth (not to mention Black Music Month), a date that signifies liberation for African American people as Gordon Granger announced in Galveston, TX that the enslaved people there were free in 1865, we have to recognize the importance of music when it comes to freedom, protest, survival and celebration in Black culture.
Whether it’s the slow hum of Pete Seeger's "We Shall Overcome" or the energetic repetition of YG’s "FTP," when the chants of freedom slow, we often hear an emotional outcry about political issues through music. From the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma to the streets of Ferguson, activism certainly has a sound.
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