Jun 19

Jun 19 Black Lives Matter: Songs of Protest, Solidarity, and Hope

On May 25, 2020, George Perry Floyd Jr. was heinously murdered without a cause by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, joining the unnervingly long list of Black Americans who have experienced police injustice, brutality, and murder. In the following days, the city of Minneapolis, followed by other cities large and small in the U.S. and globally, witnessed an outpouring of people gathered in protests, demonstrations, and passionate riots to tell the authorities and institutions of oppressive power one thing: we, the people, have had enough.

The past few weeks have been a promising time for those of us yearning for change — whether it be through risking your physical self to go protest in person, to sharing informative and supportive materials on social channels, having difficult conversations about white privilege with friends and family members (particularly for those stemming from ethnic immigrant minorities and communities like me!), and donating to a number of organizations and causes (see links at the end of this article).

Personally, a great deal of my education (or re-education) on race dynamics in the U.S., police brutality, and institutional socioeconomic oppression came not from high school history books or the news, but from music, literature, and cinema. As these times have rekindled a lot of the rage and passion felt when initially learning about disparities of privilege in our great and prosperous nation, my playlist has gravitated towards songs of protest, solidarity, and hope for change.

Read on for a list of 14 songs that encapsulate the feelings we’re all currently feeling: fiery anger, passionate grief, and hope in the face of global, emboldened activism. Black lives more than matter, and until we live in a society that upholds this truth not only in word but also in action through radical change via institutional reform or abolition, no human life is dignified, and this will remain the land of the unfree.

*Please see links at the bottom of the article for resources and donation pages.*

1. “Fight the Power” - Public Enemy

“Fight the Power,” released 31 years ago by Public Enemy in 1989, is as relevant today as ever. The hip-hop group urges to listeners that “we’ve got to fight the powers that be,” citing the systematic oppression of Black people by white Americans for over 400 years. An important lyric from this revolutionary anthem reads: “People, people we are the same — No we’re not the same/ ‘Cause we don’t know the game/ What we need is awareness, we can’t get careless.” This line is especially poignant today, as the BLM movement is often met with criticisms that “race/racism doesn’t exist” or that “all lives matter.” Indeed, racial disparities exist loud and clear, and awareness and re-education are crucial to fight the power.

2. “Killing in the Name” - Rage Against the Machine

Rage Against the Machine was and continues to be a pivotal band in the development of my personal sociopolitical views and beliefs, and “Killing in the Name” is a prime example of why the group has garnered its place as one of the most important political and revolutionary bands of all time. Released six months after the Rodney King Riots in 1992, “Killing in the Name” tackles the exact issues that are being protested today — systemic, institutional racism and police brutality. Emphasizing the complacency and involvement of police forces in executing such racism, Zack de la Rocha sings, “Some of those that work forces/ Are the same that burn crosses.” The group does not shy away from indicating that the nation’s racist, Ku Klux Klan legacy has reworked itself into the military-industrial complex of late-stage corporate capitalism. A song for the times!

3. “Formation” - Beyoncé

Beyoncé’s “Formation,” released in 2016, is very much a celebration of not only her heritage as a Black American, but also of Black womanhood and southern Black culture. The songstress and superstar, who has sometimes been the victim of whitewashing in the ways she’s been portrayed in the media (similar to, say, Jimi Hendrix), took back the narrative on her “Blackness” with the track, indicating that yes, she is very much Black and very much proud of it. “Formation” features empowering lyrics, such as “I like my baby hair, with baby hair and afros/ I like my negro nose with Jackson 5 nostrils.” The music video, directed by Melina Matsoukas, makes this message exceedingly clear — it kicks off with a visual of a flooded cop car in post-Katrina New Orleans. Throughout the video, Beyoncé and backup dancers are seen in sets that are key to southern Black culture — an especially poignant visual emphasizing Black pride and heritage shows the singer dressed in ornate garb in a plantation home, indicating that now, she is the master of this story.

4. “Know Your Enemy” - Rage Against the Machine

You guessed it! Yet another RATM song. “Know Your Enemy” is especially good at capturing, well, the rage in the hearts and minds of the members of Rage Against the Machine. Zack de la Rocha sings, “What?! The ‘land of the free?’/ Whoever told you that is your enemy!/ Now something must be done/ About vengeance, a badge and a gun.” The whole premise of the track suggests that the real “enemy” is not the terrorists in the land of far, far away, nor the colored people criminalized on television, but instead, the very people who teach fear and vilify those that threaten their power structures. As de la Rocha asserts at the conclusion of the song: Yes, I know my enemies!

They’re the teachers who taught me to fight me!

Compromise! Conformity! Assimilation! Submission!

Ignorance! Hypocrisy! Brutality! The elite!

All of which are American dreams!

You heard the man raging against the Man!

5. “Take the Power Back” - Rage Against the Machine

Okay, okay — last Rage song on this list, I promise! Before you skip ahead, pause to listen to this protest anthem, which states the key message of the people and the power they hold in its title. Throughout the track, de la Rocha repeatedly tells the listener that “we gotta take the power back,” challenging monolithic and Eurocentric narratives imposed on American youth. The song concludes with the repetition of “no more lies,” signifying the need to reform and replace institutions of power with ones that accurately represent and serve the people.

6. “Black Rage” - Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill’s “Black Rage,” a somber poetic masterpiece she dedicated to the protestors against racial inequality in Ferguson, Missouri back in 2014, is ever-so-relevant to the events unfolding today. Set to the tune of “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music, the song features the legendary Hill soulfully voicing what composes her rage as a Black woman in the U.S. She sings, “Black rage is founded on two-thirds a person/ Rapings and beatings and suffering that worsens,/ Black human packages tied up in strings,/ Black rage can come from all these kinds of things.” The line about “Black human packages tied up in strings” is especially chilling, considering recent reports of Black men across the country found hanging from trees — reminiscent of racist lynchings, and remarkably, ruled as “suicide” by the authorities. We hear your rage, Ms. Hill, and we feel it too, loud and clear.

7. “Alright” - Kendrick Lamar

As one of the greatest hip-hop artists and poetic wizards of the 21st century, it’s only fitting that Kendrick Lamar produced a track that quickly became a modern anthem for the Black Lives Matter movement, signifying the influence and reach of his work and its ability to engage with current happenings. Released in 2015 on his third studio album, To Pimp a Butterfly, “Alright” has a more hopeful message than some of the other songs listed herein. A declaration of hope and an acknowledgement of struggles that have been overcome, the song features lyrics like, “if God got us then we gon’ be alright.” After its initial release, the track started appearing at BLM protests in 2015, and BET even suggested it as the modern Black National Anthem.

8. “Why Can’t We Live Together” - Timmy Thomas

In 1972, R&B singer Timmy Thomas released “Why Can’t We Live Together,” a soulful little jam calling for peace and harmony in the world. On a particularly difficult day right after the killing of George Floyd, the song provided me with a sense of solace in light of growing civil unrest and extremely inappropriate and insufficient responses from politicians and our Dear Leader. Throughout the track, Thomas delivers lamentations for unity and harmony, singing, “No more war, no more war/ All we want is some peace in this world” and “No matter, no matter what color/ You are still my brother.” Olive branches may not get the job done this far into the game, but Thomas’s passionate rendition offers a nice glimmer of hope and comfort.

9. “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” - Gil Scott-Heron

This list would not be possible without Gil Scott-Heron’s 1971 spoken-word piece set to a backdrop of a funky beat. The song, whose title comes from a slogan popularized by Black Power movements during the 1960s, is filled with so many cultural references that we could write a whole essay on it. However, some key terms really stand out as we re-visit this piece nearly 50 years later. For example, Scott-Heron repeats that “there will be no pictures of pigs shooting down brothers on the instant replay” and that “Black people will be in the street looking for a brighter day.” The notion of the revolution not being televised, as TV programs are packaged with nonsense meant to distract and detract, is poignant today, as media sources skew facts in real-time, vilify those vying for equality, and cherry-pick the material they present to viewers. Perhaps the revolution not being televised underscores the importance of social media, which allows the people themselves to dictate their own narratives and further the spread and impact of change. Ultimately, to reiterate the key takeaway of the song, Scott-Heron concludes his masterpiece with: “The revolution will be no re-run, brothers — the revolution will be live.”

10. “Deer Dance” - System of a Down

As a native Angeleno, and especially one of Armenian descent, it’s only understandable that System of a Down significantly influenced my sociopolitical awakenings as a young adolescent. “Deer Dance,” a track released on Toxicity in 2001, especially tackles relevant issues of protestation and police brutality with key lyrics like, “Pushing little children,/ With their fully automatics,/ They like to push the weak around.” Lead singer and activist Serj Tankian, who co-founded the Axis of Justice, a social justice non-profit, with RATM guitarist Tom Morello, sings about the “Peaceful, loving youth against the brutality,/ Of plastic existence” in Los Angeles. A nu-metal wonder of the early 2000s, “Deer Dance” delivers clever phrases highlighting the absurdity of the sociopolitical climate in the U.S., such as, “Baton courtesy,/ Service with a smile.”

11. “Fuck tha Police” - N.W.A.

You didn’t possibly think this song would be left out of this list, did you?! N.W.A.’s “Fuck tha Police,” released in 1988 on their album Straight Outta Compton, is not only one of the most relevant protest songs about police brutality and racial profiling around, but the song title and chorus lyric in and of itself has become a political expression, a part of the relevant cultural idiom. The iconic song is angry, loud, and proud, with lyrics like: “Fuck that shit, ‘cause I ain’t the one/ For a punk motherfucker with a badge and a gun/ To be beating on and thrown in jail.” Not only did the entire world take notice of the track, but the FBI even expressed their “disapproval” of the song, going so far as to write a letter to the group’s record label. Perhaps spending less time expressing distaste in letters and instead, dedicating efforts to reform and addressing huge problems with their imposition of power would have been a more fruitful endeavor?

12. “Get Up, Stand Up” - Bob Marley and The Wailers

A reggae classic released by Bob Marley and The Wailers in 1973, “Get Up, Stand Up,” has a simple yet encouraging message. Initially inspired by the poverty and dire living conditions in Haiti, Marley’s song soon became a global anthem for human rights, with his famous lyrics urging people everywhere to “Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights!” When times get discouraging and action seems slow to come, Marley’s “don’t give up the fight!” provides a hopeful, melodic pick-me-up.

13. “The Times They Are A-Changin’” - Bob Dylan

One of my all-time favorites, Bobby D, is no stranger to songs of protest — he performed at the historic March on Washington in 1963. The Civil Rights movement that he witnessed unfold before him, and in which he very actively participated in, undoubtedly influenced one of his most prolific songs, “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” released in 1964. In the track, the songwriter calls on politicians to “please heed the call” and listen to the voices of dissent. His words, written nearly 60 years prior, also subtly diss those who advocate for the maintenance of the status quo, such as: “Come mothers and fathers/ Throughout the land/ And don’t criticize/ What you can’t understand.” Although the times have not changed all too much since Dylan first penned this song, his words remain as timely as ever, as he sings, “Your old road is rapidly agin’/ Please get out of the new one/ If you can’t lend your hand/ For the time they are a-changin’.”

14. “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” - Nina Simone

Nina, Nina, Nina. I’m closing out this list with Ms. Simone’s 1967 rendition of Billy Taylor’s and Dick Dallas’s 1963 jazz song, as her incredible version wholly encapsulates emotions of protest, solidarity, and hope all tied up in one. “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free,” which became popular within the Civil Rights movement of the 60s, is absolutely heartbreaking, and sung with the powerful vocals of Simone, is bound to give the listener goosebumps and/or tears. The songstress expresses, “I wish I could break/All the chains holding me” and “I wish I could share/All the love that’s in my heart/ Remove all the bars/ That keep us apart.” A set of lines in the song particularly emphasizes the need for solidarity in the current time, especially from those who are not Black themselves: “I wish you could know/ What it means to be me/ Then you’d see and agree/ That every man should be free.”

In the coming days and weeks, continue to educate yourselves, donate, sign petitions, protest physically and/or digitally, and of course, listen to the aforementioned songs of protest, solidarity, and hope. Further, there are a myriad of crowdsourced resources circulating for free all over the internet and social media that can aid with educating the uninformed and greater promoting the fight for justice. You can express your solidarity and demand justice by: