Throughout history, protest songs have empowered the oppressed to resist their oppressors. Martin Luther King Jr said, ‘freedom songs serve to unite a movement’. Revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East have been inspired by rap music, which the authorities tried to ban, again pointing to the potential of political music to bring about social change. However, the inevitable question that arises when considering protest music is whether it really matters, does it make a difference? Or does the commodification of music and the banality of television talent shows devalue its political potential?
Steve Biko, a prominent anti-apartheid activist and founder of the Black Consciousness Movement who was tortured and killed in custody by South African police, wrote that “the most powerful weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” When government, media, and education are largely in the hands of the oppressor, whether overtly in authoritarian regimes or more covertly in a democracy, the protest song becomes one of the only ways to foster resistance, as it also speaks to the head. like the heart. Singer-songwriter Phil Ochs wrote, “A good song with a message can bring a deeper point to more people than a thousand rallies.” Similarly, the Swedish-American labor activist Joe Hill, who was controversially executed in 1915, wrote that “a pamphlet, however good, is never read more than once, but a song is learned by heart and repeat over and over again.” ‘
Jimi Hendrix goes further and states that “if there is something to change in this world, it can only happen through music”. And there is plenty of evidence of how political music has made a difference. As Martin Luther King Jr states, music was a key component of the American civil rights movement. Pete Seeger, known as the father of American folk music, introduced King to ‘We Shall Overcome’ and it became an anthem for those resisting racist oppression in America in the 1960s. The title of the song was also became the subject of one of King’s major speeches. There is no doubt that songs like this galvanized people to bravely confront the brutal racial cruelty of South Americans, often in non-violent ways. See the movie ‘Let Freedom Sing’ for an excellent depiction of the civil rights struggle.
In Estonia, a third of the population gathered to sing songs banned by the Soviet regime and this greatly contributed to the country gaining independence through a bloodless revolution. This is well documented in the movie ‘The Singing Revolution: One Nation, One Million Voices, The Fall of an Empire’. And as Joan Baez states, the Vietnam war was stopped due to growing popular opposition in the US, the government had wanted to continue the war, the people were informed and encouraged with protest songs.
In South Africa, the connection between protest songs and social change is perhaps even clearer. The Apartheid regime in South Africa was supported by the United States, the United Kingdom, and other European allies. This was despite the fact that whites represented only 8% of the population, had almost all the wealth, and the government brutally suppressed any opposition: blacks were not allowed to vote. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher went so far as to claim that Nelson Mandela was a ‘terrorist’. Particularly in the 1980s, musicians such as Eddie Grant, Labi Siffri and The Special AKA informed western populations about the plight of the South African people and this led to increased pressure on the apartheid regime with boycotts of South African goods and sanctions. . country tax. External pressure, coupled with courageous internal resistance, eventually led to the fall of Apartheid. The Special AKA’s song ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ was at the forefront of this wave of influential political music.
Music has played a powerful role in other areas of oppression. Tom Robinson’s ‘Glad to be Gay’ was written for the 1976 London Gay Pride parade and pointed out the hypocrisy and cruelty of the ‘straight’ establishment, especially the police. At one point banned by the BBC, it became an anthem of the gay rights movement and played its part in the increasingly widespread acceptance of homosexuality in the UK.
The powerful are fully aware of the power of protest songs, even if they rarely acknowledge it. In our opinion, the greatest protest singer-songwriter of the 20th century was Pete Seeger. However, he was charged with contempt of Congress in 1957 after refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) about his socialist political views on the grounds that this would violate his First Amendment rights. He argued that “I’m not going to answer any questions about my association, my philosophical or religious beliefs, or my political beliefs, or how I voted in any election, or any of these private matters. I think these are very improper questions for any American to be asked.” , especially under a compulsion like this.” As a result, he was blacklisted for 17 years. Similarly, the Soviets and Chinese clamped down on any music that seemed to oppose the party. But such censorship is not only historical. As the Americans prepared to invade Iraq in 2003 with the ‘coalition of the willing’ (mainly blackmailed and threatened!), the most successful girl group of all time, The Dixie Chicks, appeared on stage in London and said that they were embarrassed. that President Bush was a fellow Texan. The outcry in America led to many radio stations blacklisting them and firing DJs if they played Dixie Chicks music.
As we face the many challenges of the 21st century with environmental destruction, population growth, dwindling resources, ongoing regional wars, and the widening gap between the “haves and have nots” or George Bush has said “those who have more and those who do not have”. , we trust that an uprising of popular resistance will find solutions. This is already happening in the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, but it seems a long way off in the more comfortable West. If solutions are found, it will likely be artists and musicians who will lead the charge, as once again protest songs and political music drive public opinion in the direction of freedom.