The Civil Rights Movement was an unstoppable force for African American rights. Prior to this, blacks were segregated into "separate but equal" living conditions but in reality they were treated unfairly by whites. The movement united African Americans to fight for equal rights through protests, sit-ins, and marches. A big impact that the movement had was the use of non-violence. While riots broke out and blacks were severely beaten, mistreated or even killed, they refused to fight physically. The use of song was vital to the movement in many ways. Songs would unite followers into one voice for the world to hear and would keep them focused on their goal as Bernice Johnson Reagon stated, "Think about the dominant numbers of participants who decided they would put their everyday existence at risk to fight racism in their local community". Singing was a community experience where everyone needed to sing to be heard. These songs were used to inform people outside of the movement of their struggle and also used as a defense against police officers as Reagon stated, "There is a story of a policeman beating a demonstrator on the ground and the man being assaulted began to sing, "We Shall Overcome," and this particular policeman could not continue the beating".
Freedom Songs were songs used in the movement to empower, educate, and unite. Freedom Songs were songs that already existed whether as church hymns or popular rhythm and blues songs and the lyrics were re-written to fit the cause. Freedom songs were sung during marches and boycotts to give followers strength to continue through the movement. These songs were also used to educate those outside of the movement of what was happen and to hopefully get them to join. The Freedom Singers were a group of college students to travelled the country to sing a recruit new members to the cause. These songs helped unite different generations because they used old songs and infused them with new subject matter. Freedom Songs were also used to remind followers that they can lose their lives in this fight but it was necessary to gain the rights that they deserved. Freedom Songs were the catalyst the movement needed to be as successful as it was.
Examples of Freedom Songs can be found here:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/09_summer.html#music
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=123599617&m=123606957
The legacy of the Civil Rights Movement is a monumental staple in American History. Though Freedom Songs are now sang as a form of entertainment, they will always remind us of that moment in time where blacks had to struggle for their rights. A recent performance at the white house showed popular artist singing Freedom Songs and at the end had all of the performers which included Bob Dylan and John Cougar Melencamp and even had President Obama singing a final song. This showed that Freedom Songs will live on for many generations to come.
Highlights from the White House Performance can be seen here:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-june10/music_02-11.html
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Diversity Appreciation
People always consider America as the place to achieve anything. It is a place where anyone, no matter where they are from, and be a part of the melting pot. But is that really true? With our country being at war and the economy being the worst its been since the Great Depression, we are in a vulnerable state. Alienating other for their race, beliefs, or sexual orientation could be the thing that completely tears this country apart. We need to embrace each others differences and actually unite to solve the problems this country has, not exacerbate them. The New York Center for Interpersonal Development (NYCID) knew this and wanted peace and understanding.
After the 9/11, Staten Island was in a fragile state and there were feelings of fear and anger that led to bigotry. The NYCID organized the annual "Celebrate Diversity!" festival at Wagner College to promote peace and understanding. The NYCID facilitated "yearlong series of interactive study circles". This group would meet every month to learn more about each other. They held activities that explores different cultures and their cuisines. Within the college, professors taught classes where students wrote about perceptions of others. The NYCID hopes that every year people will each will bring one more person to make the festival grow and to continue to spread the message of peace and understanding.
Diversity appreciation at Westminster is important because like anywhere in the world, we need to create community of equals that work together to make the world a better place. Westminster is praised for being a school with a great international program and we should not take advantage of that. I believe that Westminster does great things to educate people on diversity such as having clubs from different cultures and certain classes such as World Religions. Some things that Westminster can do to continue diversity appreciation is having classes that exclusively studies different cultures and having the clubs that represent each culture and come together to coordinate an event to celebrate all these cultures.
After the 9/11, Staten Island was in a fragile state and there were feelings of fear and anger that led to bigotry. The NYCID organized the annual "Celebrate Diversity!" festival at Wagner College to promote peace and understanding. The NYCID facilitated "yearlong series of interactive study circles". This group would meet every month to learn more about each other. They held activities that explores different cultures and their cuisines. Within the college, professors taught classes where students wrote about perceptions of others. The NYCID hopes that every year people will each will bring one more person to make the festival grow and to continue to spread the message of peace and understanding.
Diversity appreciation at Westminster is important because like anywhere in the world, we need to create community of equals that work together to make the world a better place. Westminster is praised for being a school with a great international program and we should not take advantage of that. I believe that Westminster does great things to educate people on diversity such as having clubs from different cultures and certain classes such as World Religions. Some things that Westminster can do to continue diversity appreciation is having classes that exclusively studies different cultures and having the clubs that represent each culture and come together to coordinate an event to celebrate all these cultures.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
The Broadside Ballad
The broadside ballad is a song that takes a strong stance on a political and social issue. They were a way to raise awareness for something that the artist felt strongly about. It was used to motivate and unite the masses against that specific issue. Ephemeral in nature, Broadside Ballads used popular songs at the time and rewrote the lyrics to reflect their issue.
I chose to look at Pete Seeger's "What Did You Learn in School?". Pete Seeger was once a teacher and felt strongly about the education system. Seeger addresses issues like war and government and how they should be traditionally viewed. You can see the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VucczIg98Gw
With the simple banjo accompaniment, the listener can focus completely on the message of the song. I can’t help but feel angry when I listen to this because I hear how our society should be and realize how it isn’t. Our government is not always right. “I learned that murderers die for their crimes. Even if we make a mistake sometimes.” This shows how flawed our court systems are. I felt the drive and passion that this song portrayed and, in my opinion, it is the what Broadside Ballads are all about.
Express Yourself,
Felix
I chose to look at Pete Seeger's "What Did You Learn in School?". Pete Seeger was once a teacher and felt strongly about the education system. Seeger addresses issues like war and government and how they should be traditionally viewed. You can see the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VucczIg98Gw
With the simple banjo accompaniment, the listener can focus completely on the message of the song. I can’t help but feel angry when I listen to this because I hear how our society should be and realize how it isn’t. Our government is not always right. “I learned that murderers die for their crimes. Even if we make a mistake sometimes.” This shows how flawed our court systems are. I felt the drive and passion that this song portrayed and, in my opinion, it is the what Broadside Ballads are all about.
Express Yourself,
Felix
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Joe Glazer: A Voice of the Unions
Hello world, this is my first attempt at a legitimate blog so here goes. I am enrolled in a class called Music of Resistance, Revolution, and Liberation at Westminster College. The purpose of this class and blog is to understand how music can be shaped to address social and political issues. The class will show different ways in which music exist as a catalyst for social and political change. We will study people, songs and events that caused social and political changes and how they impacted the world. Finally, we will apply the history of this style of music and apply them to contemporary issues and how today's musicians are addressing these issues.
Music is something that I hold very close to my heart. I am a musician and it is the only thing that I consider myself good at. I have dedicated myself to learning a number of instruments and styles and without music, I would not be where I am today or have the friends that music has allowed me to make. I took this class as an opportunity to further my knowledge of a topic that I am so passionate about and to understand the roots of such a revolutionary form of music. I want to come out of this class inspired by musicians who not only make great music, but helped change the world. I hope to be able to use this knowledge to express myself on another level.
http://media.smithsonianfolkways.org/video/CFV10055_220k_480_w.swf
The link above is a video about an artist by the name of Joe Glazer. Glazer was known for being a labor activist and founder of Collector records. Glazer sang for presidents such as Kennedy and Truman and with his record label, he was able to spread awareness of union rights to the masses. He also helped other artist with the same message spread their music.
More information on Joe Glazer can be found here:
http://www.laborheritage.org/?p=657
http://www.wfma.net/glazer.htm
I chose to cover Joe Glazer because I felt his sincerity to this issue. Having experience with record labels, I understand how beneficial a label can be to an artist through distribution. Glazer saw this and made it happen on his own. Glazer understood that to get a message across through a song, the words and verses had to be simple for people to understand. Because of this, Glazer took traditional song melodies such as "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah" and used his own lyrics to spread his message. His main theme was unity among workers. If the workers did not stick together then the union would fall apart. This concept can be applied to anything and that is what really had an impact on me. His music is the greatest vessel to express his feelings on certain issues. He stated that music builds the spirit. This is a quote that I believe represents the true nature of music and of this class.
Express yourself,
Felix
Music is something that I hold very close to my heart. I am a musician and it is the only thing that I consider myself good at. I have dedicated myself to learning a number of instruments and styles and without music, I would not be where I am today or have the friends that music has allowed me to make. I took this class as an opportunity to further my knowledge of a topic that I am so passionate about and to understand the roots of such a revolutionary form of music. I want to come out of this class inspired by musicians who not only make great music, but helped change the world. I hope to be able to use this knowledge to express myself on another level.
http://media.smithsonianfolkways.org/video/CFV10055_220k_480_w.swf
The link above is a video about an artist by the name of Joe Glazer. Glazer was known for being a labor activist and founder of Collector records. Glazer sang for presidents such as Kennedy and Truman and with his record label, he was able to spread awareness of union rights to the masses. He also helped other artist with the same message spread their music.
More information on Joe Glazer can be found here:
http://www.laborheritage.org/?p=657
http://www.wfma.net/glazer.htm
I chose to cover Joe Glazer because I felt his sincerity to this issue. Having experience with record labels, I understand how beneficial a label can be to an artist through distribution. Glazer saw this and made it happen on his own. Glazer understood that to get a message across through a song, the words and verses had to be simple for people to understand. Because of this, Glazer took traditional song melodies such as "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah" and used his own lyrics to spread his message. His main theme was unity among workers. If the workers did not stick together then the union would fall apart. This concept can be applied to anything and that is what really had an impact on me. His music is the greatest vessel to express his feelings on certain issues. He stated that music builds the spirit. This is a quote that I believe represents the true nature of music and of this class.
Express yourself,
Felix
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)