Saturday, June 6, 2020

History of Protest Song and the Fight Against Racism (SNS week of 5/31/2020)


Welcome to the never-ending nightmare that is the year 2020.    While most of us are still observing the quarantining that is the COVID-19 pandemic, this country has entered another tragedy, one that has opened up all wounds.

Earlier in the week, George Floyd, a 46 year old black man with a criminal past, was killed by white police officer Derek Chauvin, in Minneapolis when Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for nine minutes, the last three when he was apparently motionless.    Other officers either just stood around or even helped to retrain Floyd, until he fell unconscious , and there were no attempts to revive him.

The actions triggered off a new wave of protests and violence, along with rioting,   And once again, as has happened several times in the past. racial tensions in this country raced to an all-time high, stirring up memories of its horrible past, beginning with slavery, and progressing to lynching and the birth of hate groups such as the Klu Klux Klan (KKK), onwards to segregation, the Civil Rights movement along with race riots in the inner cities in the late 1960's.  

While things seem to have settled down by the 1980's, relatively speaking, tensions flared up again with the beating of Rodney King by police officers in 1991.  But it was when four of the officers went on trial in April 1992 for the beating (King survived), with three of them acquitted and the fourth resulting in a hung jury, rioting in Los Angeles' South Central section broke out.   Two of the officers were eventually tried on a federal level and were found guilty.    King himself died in 2012 of a drowning.

Rap duo Kris Kross, who had the #1 single at the time with "Jump", perform at the MTV Sport Festival in Belmar, in June, 1992.

Tensions were high all spring, and your truly was almost in the middle of it.    In June of 1992, just one month after the King verdict, the television channel MTV held one of it's "MTV Sports Festivals" in Belmar.  For some unexplained reason, the officials in that Jersey Shore town, decided to hold it on the same day as their annual seafood festival.   While the event itself, combining sports events (such as roller blading, etc) with Belmar's vendors, was fine, the then-music channel also sponsored concerts that took place on the beach nearby, such as the rap duo Kris Kross, which at the time was enjoying a huge hit with "Jump" and Das-EFX.  

The town of Belmar, sensing problems, cut off access into town by raising two of the drawbridges over the Shark River Inlet.   Things were calm when myself and two friends went into D'Jais bar that afternoon.   But when we came out around 4 PM, you could see pandemonium as there were hordes of people covering Ocean Avenue, just about all of them of color, and there were pushing and shoving, and references to Rodney King.     Luckily, our beach house that year was on 18th Avenue, a bit south of the commotion, thus were okay.

When I arrived home that evening, turning on the eleven o'clock news, the streets were finally cleared and the violence died down.    Twenty-nine people were arrested and 30 injured in what was attributed to a racially-charged atmosphere, just weeks after the Rodney King verdict came down.   Belmar officials faced much heat and criticism in its wake.

The next significant wave of racial tensions occurred twenty years later, when Trayvon Martin, a Florida teenager from Sanford was killed, in this case not from an officer, but by George Zimmerman, a civilian.  While Zimmerman identified as Hispanic, he nonetheless incurred the wrath of civil-rights groups when he allegedly killed Martin, an African-American, and escalated when Zimmerman was acquitted a year later.

The acquittal spawned the start of the Black Lives Matter movement, which would surface a year later when another police brutality incident occurred in Ferguson, near St. Louis, when Michael Brown was killed, and in New York City, Eric Garner were both killed by police.   Black Lives Matter became a major protest group, and tensions would arise once again when subsequent police killings of African-Americans occurred.    This seemed to be the point of division in this country as BLM spawned a backlash from those claiming "All Lives Matter", and "Blue Lives Matter", the latter supporting the police.   While many police departments responded to these events and vowed to look into the fine line between racial profiling and brutality, many responded that these are isolated incidents and society as a whole shouldn't be blamed.   Subsequent reactions to the movement included sports figures kneeling during the National Anthem at sporting events, most notably football quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

I do need to say one thing about Black Lives Matter.   When it emerged, many believed it to be some sort of terrorist or radical group.   It may have appeared that way a couple years back when BLM planned to disrupt a small-town Republican rally.   That is, until a the rally's leader elected to let a representative of the BLM come up to the podium and speak, and answer questions from the rally participants.   The BLM leader was probably caught off guard and thanked those at the rally for listening.  When minds are open and dialog is running, the whole society changes for the better.   I gained respect for the organization then.

But, still, racial tensions remained high and political correctness and divisions escalated.  The meaning of the word "racist" expanded.    While much of this occurred under President Barack Obama, the division of the country resulted in electing Donald Trump as President in 2016.    But it has only resulted in a bigger division which has been reflected in the recent rioting, as many---fairly or unfairly---blame Trump for the violence as well as his role and methods in trying and quelling the violence, such as standing in front of a church with a copy of the Bible in his plea for peace (although days later, New York Senator Andrew Cuomo also quoted from the Bible as well, and so did Democratic candidate Joe Biden, speaking from inside a church).

There are also those that maintain that this was an isolated incident involving mostly white officers killing a black man and that other police departments, which, along with small inner-city businesses  nationwide, faced the wrath of the violence. and putting their officers, who already risk lives making split second decisions, in danger.   Churches and landmarks were burned to the ground.
Many blamed whites for the source of the problem and many heated debates occurred regarding racism and anti-racism.     Unfortunately, with any issue there are two sides of the story, but with the current media, leaning left, usually reporting one side, probably just furthered the division.   Still, those who protested quietly were applauded and while BLM did---or will---stage protests in various places--including my hometown of Roselle Park planned for Saturday June 6---while those were peaceful, often other groups, taking advance of the situation were the ones starting the rioting and violence.

Hopefully, lessons were learned here and hopefully when the violence dies down, people will remember the words Rodney King spoke of during the '92 LA riots:  "Can't We All Get Along".

A PROTEST IN SONG:  Since this is a music blog, all this begets the protest song.   While many celebrities and musicians have chimed in with their opinions, protest has always been more powerful when put into song.   Artists like Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan , for example, have become legendary for their songwriting on major issues.   Seeger's "We Shall Overcome", covered by Baez, had become an anthem for the original Civil Rights Movement.   His songs of protest cover everything from the Civil War to the Vietnam War ("Waist Deep in the Big Muddy").   Bruce Springsteen released an album of Seeger covers in 2006.  Seeger who lived in Beacon, NY, was part of an annual festival called Hudson Valley Sloop Clearwater Festival, which I was fortunate enough to catch back on October 17, 2004.  He has also performed at festivals such as Greenpeace.

Pete Seeger performing at the Hudson Valley Sloop Clearwater Festival in Beacon NY in October 2004. 


Other Civil-Rights anthems include Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come", Curtis Mayfield's "This Is My County", and "People Get Ready"  (both sung with his band The Impressions), Nina Simone's "Mississippi Goddamn" (about the slaying of Medgar Evans by the KKK); Billie Holliday's "Strange Fruit", and Dylan's "The Times They Are A Changin'".

By the late 1960's, much of the protest was expanded to address the Vietnam War as well as those selected for the draft, and its resulting reactions at home.   The latter was represented by "Ohio", by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, released in 1970 after the deaths of four students killed by the National Guard during campus protests at Kent State University in Ohio.     "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, released in 1969 addresses the situation of the sons of prominent politicians and other higher-ups, being exempted from the Select Service process.  Edwin Starr's "War" (1970), and Freda Payne's "Bring the Boys Home" (1971) also protest the war.  

Except for Dylan's "George Jackson" (1971) and "Hurricane" (1975), both about slain African-Americans, protest pretty much took a back seat in the popular music world.   But there were concerts to raise money for causes, such as George Harrison's "Concert for Bangladesh" (and his 1971 song of the same title raising awareness of its famine...Joan Baez also covered this on her 1972 single "Song of Bangladesh"), and "No Nukes" in 1979, protesting the dangers of nuclear energy in the wake of the Three Mile Island plant meltdown earlier that year, which featured performers by the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt.   Rod Stewart's "The Killing of Georgie" (1976) dealt with homophobia.   Social comment did appear in the relevant 1970's with the likes of Marvin Gaye's What's Goin' On, and Stevie Wonder's mid 1970's output.   Songs like "Inner City Blues" and "Living For the City" showed that police brutality existed long before Rodney King.

The 1980's featured several notable charity events, and resulting recordings.     Famine in Africa, most notably in Ethiopia resulted in a British gathering of recording stars at the time, in 1984, "Do They Know It's Christmas", by Band-Aid.   The United States  (USA for Africa) would follow suit a few months later with "We Are the World", with many stars of the day.    That would start a slew of charity recordings and events such as Live-Aid (a day-long festival held concurrent at Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia), and Farm-Aid (organized by Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp).  Hands Across America was another project to aid the USA for Africa project in 1986 in which people would form a "human chain" across the continental U.S.  

The Cold War, which began shortly after the end of World War II, had come to a head in the 1980's, when then-President Ronald Reagan increased the US defense against the Soviet Union, and escalating threats of nuclear attacks.  Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Two Tribes", Sting's "Russians", and Alphaville's "Forever Young" all address that issue.

Racial issues were addressed once again, this time overseas in South Africa, with "Sun City", a song protesting the system of apartheid in that country and the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela in the 1960's thru to that current era.   Apartheid dealt with the separation of races, with the favored white minority superseding the majority black population which was subject to be placed in villages.  Released in late 1985, United Support of Artists Against Apartheid, a super group of artists that crossed all genres, headed by Steven Van Zant of the E-Street Band, the contingent also included rappers Grandmaster Melle Mel, Run-DMC, and Kurtis Blow; R&B legends, Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin (both formerly of The Temptations), Darlene Love, George Clinton, and rockers Jackson Browne, Pat Benatar, Keith Richards, and Daryl Hall & John Oates, just to name a few.   The song dealt with the country's ongoing system of apartheid, and specifically about the high class resort town of Sun City, with the artists vowing not to play any gigs there, in protest.

Australian Band Midnight Oil addressed social issues with two hits: "Beds are Burning", about the occupation of their country that was taken from the Aborigines, and "Blue Sky Mine" about the pros and cons of the environment versus corporate profit.

Nineties social issues were for the most part confined to the hip-hop world, with the east vs west war that resulted in the deaths of The Notorious BIG and Tupac Shakur.     And of course, in the wake of the Rodney King verdict, songs such as "Cop Killer" by rapper Ice-T's metal band Body Count, and "Fuck Da Police" by N.W.A.   Another hip-hop band, Public Enemy also rapped about the oppression in the African-American community.

Which brings us to the here and now.   With the social unrest over much of the past decade, and especially today, are there any songs that have come out addressing this?    While I have pretty much not followed popular music the last several years, none of it really addressed issues.   No doubt there is protest, but like other quality songs, most have flown under the radar.

Probably a good recent example is Gary Clark Jr's "This Land".    Spending several weeks on my playlist last year, the song deals head on about the current police brutality situation and its effect on African-Americans, and the current state of racism, especially in "white areas" of the country.   The song scored four Grammy Awards during the most recent ceremony.     (Clark's song, "Pearl Cadillac", in contrast, from the same album, is basically a love song, and takes the top spot on my current playlist).  

Other current or recent songs of protest including Michael Kiwanuka's "Rolling".  Elise Farnsworth's "Safety Net" addresses the current situation of turmoil.   Going back a couple years, Hegazy's "Here to Stay" deals with the rights of "illegal" immigrants to stay in this country, which is still a major issue, with "sanctuary cities" sprouting up in the country.    "Winning as Truth" by Trapdoor Social, is along the lines of "Blue Sky Mine", weighing corporate concerns with those of the environment, and finally, Halo Circus' "Narcissist", is most likely an attack on President Trump.

And of course, the current COVID-19 pandemic is the subject of The Rolling Stones' "Living in a Ghost Town", as well as other songs that are sprouting up.

In a nutshell, and in this blogger's opinion, while words will mean a great deal, songs will be everlasting.  As for the current situation, there are definitely lessons to learn, about sensitivity and activism.   I think people on both sides of the aisle will agree that racism is alive and well, and to be honest, they're not far off from each other.   Each has different ways to combat it, but the goal is definitely there.

Please continue to be safe out there, and prayers to the family of George Floyd, as well as those who were affected by the burning, looting and general destruction of property, small business, police stations and other violence that resulted from these horrific events.  And let's work---somehow, someway---to put an end to racism once and for all.  And to my Roselle Park friends, pray there is no violence, and listen to the message as you may learn something.

Finally, I came across this meme:  "I back the Blue and stand against racism.  Yes you can do both".
Peace, everyone.


BRIEFLY:  Most likely due to the novelty of COVID-19 wearing off (despite continued social distancing and stay-at-home measures), as well as due to an relevant artist like Gary Clark Jr, "Pearl Cadillac" takes the top  spot away from "Living in a Ghost Town".   The rest of the top 10 is pretty much jostling for position, with Donna Missal's "Hurt By You" inching into the ten spot, while her follow-up, "Let Me Let You Down" takes Impact honors with a 30-17 jump.

New music added this week comes from Foster the People with "Lamb's Wool", another excellent track from that band, a newcomer band called MyKey, "Was It Something I Said".  Both songs are off to great listens.   Mid-Hudson contingent The Big Takeover also returns with "Weight of the World". Colony House, whose "You and I" reached my #8 position in 2016, returns with "Original Material", and Norah Jones, always an awesome artist who fits right in with my of the female artists of the day on my blog, has a nice one with "I'm Alive".  Finally, FINNEAS makes his SNS debut with "Let's Fall in Love for the Night".   He is probably more well-known as Billie Eilish's brother.


Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist

May 31, 2020




This Week
Last Week
ARTIST-Title
Weeks on List
1
2
NUMBER ONE:



Album: This Land
10
2
1
6
3
3
9
4
6
8
5
5
9
6
9
8
7
8
8
8
7
9
9
4
11
10
11
7
11
14
7
12
13
9
13
20
5
14
18
6
15
10
13
16
12
10
17
30
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:



(Single Only)
3
18
19
9
19
16
10
20
22
7
21
24
6
22
15
11
23
28
7
24
27
8
25
17
29
26
21
14
27
31
10
28
32
14
29
26
9
30
39
4
31
40
4
32
23
13
33
35
6
34
25
18
35
33
8
36
34
6
37
29
13
38
36
7
39
46
MOVER OF THE WEEK:



(Single Only)
3
40
38
7
41
41
10
42
44
5
43
43
8
44
47
5
45
48
4
46
51
4
47
50
7
48
42
11
49
53
4
50
56
4
51
59
4
52
74
2
53
37
9
54
49
19
55
58
8
56
65
5
57
54
7
58
64
5
59
52
22
60
60
6
61
82
2
62
69
7
63
45
15
64
57
11
65
75
3
66
--- 
TOP DEBUT: 


(Single Only)
1
67
61
20
68
73
5
69
79
2
70
--- 
1
71
63
6
72
68
37
73
83
3
74
86
2
75
85
3
76
55
10
77
--- 
1
78
80
6
79
--- 
1
80
77
5
81
84
3
82
90
2
83
--- 
1
84
71
13
85
78
19
86
62
19
87
93
9
88
66
17
89
96
2
90
81
25
91
89
3
92
99
2
93
 ---
1
94
67
19
95
70
17
96
76
15
97
95
11
98
72
16
99
88
6
100
92
3






Songs with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week.   ● Songs with 25 or more plays on iTunes/iPods ▲   Songs with 50 or more plays.

























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