Hi everyone, my name is Melanie and I am doing this blog for my music class: Music of Resistance, Revolution, and Liberation. The purpose of this blog is to seek out and understand music that has been used to influence political or social change. We will look at why these pieces were so successful and what they did for the societies they wanted to change. I am taking this class because I am interested in the way that music changes other’s attitudes and can influence others to change. Music is very inspiring to me. By the end of this course I would like to have learned numerous amounts of songs that are powerful and meaningful in the past, present and future.
The artist I have chosen is Bernice Johnson Reagon. She has been a singer and an activist since the sixties. ” She founded SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) Freedom Singers, which was the first group of freedom singers to travel nationally. Through Freedom Singers and her own work, she became a leader in the Civil Rights Movement.
The primary social and political issues she addressed were the idea of equal rights for African Americans. She saw firsthand the effects of racism in her own life and wanted to make a change. She witnessed protests and riots that usually ended up in arrest and how after song was able to unify her community and people. During the Albany movement in Albany, Georgia she comments of the power of the music: “It was the first time that I knew the power of song to be an instrument for the articulation of our community concerns.”
I chose this video because what she said about freedom really intrigued me. She says “The only freedom you have is the freedom you’re exercising.” I completely agree and those are some powerful words, they make you want to do something and to start exercising the freedom you really do have. If she can speak this way then I can only imagine how powerful and influential her music is, and that’s really exciting to me. I can’t wait to find more people and songs just like this!
Music is a powerful expression indeed. It can create a rush of emotion that affect the people in different ways. When I hear a song that I like from long time ago, I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing at the time that song played. It forever burned those memories in my mind...oh! the power of music..
ReplyDeleteCheck out Pete Seeger if you want to explore some political music. He wrote folk songs to inspire those around him in the United States to start a movement for change during times of war etc
ReplyDeleteExcellent start, Melanie! BJR is a hero of mine. I'm glad that you've found inspiration in her words! Her daughter, Toshi Reagon, is a phenomenal musician and social activist, too. You should look her up on YouTube sometime. There is a very cool video called "This is Toshi" or something kind of like that. Check it out.
ReplyDeleteThanks, you guys! Music really is powerful... and I'm hoping by the end of this blog project I will have exposed you to all different kinds of powerful music.
ReplyDeleteI LOVED hearing these musical selections. I also love the quote you referenced, "The only freedom you have is the freedom you’re exercising" I think that people don't realize how they are shortchanging themselves when they don't take advantage of the freedoms and opporunties available to them.
ReplyDeleteWhile I freely confess that music has a degree of impact on the senses or that it can certainly influence, enhance and inspire moods and actions - I ponder and question the thought that as a means of conveyance, massive or even noticeable social, political, cultural and racial divides are restored to their proper and socially conscience frameworks.
ReplyDeleteTo which demographic do these ballads claim to offer voice? Nations or the Globe as a whole or to specific groups? If the voices of Nations or the Globe were previously muted and suddenly given the right to be heard through these ballads, to which social event or series of social events are attributed as proof of their communal success? To what singular event is tied an unforgettable ballad or anthem? If they are meant to bring the socially unconscious into consciousness, what song of protest ended Nigerian, Croatian or Ugandan genocide? What song has brought about the global freedom and equality as it pertains to Muslim and Hindi women? If relatively small groups or individual struggles are predominantly voiced then the act is segregation. A modest degree of acceptance or tolerance by those that surround the minority groups’ sphere of influence may occur but ultimately act as a wedge between the majority and minority groups if it exclusively benefits the supposed marginalized.
Admirable though the pretense may be that these melodies and lyrics are written under, the velocity they achieve for affecting a measurable change in cultural compassion remains questionable at best. If a sense of community or belonging is truly the desired end state, the healing lyrics of Calhoun Tubbs best define an answer to societal change.