(1971)
dal capolavoro assoluto di Marvin Gaye, What's Going On.



Una canzone di profonda religiosità e un appello alla pace e all'amore per il prossimo, ma che parla anche del rapporto conflittuale di Marvin con suo padre, pastore del movimento pentecostale. Come è noto, nel 1984 Marvin Gay Sr. uccise il figlio mentre quest'ultimo tentava di difendere la madre durante una lite per futili motivi.

Notevole l'utilizzo di questa canzone nell'ultimo film di Spike Lee, Da 5 Bloods, cantata da uno dei personaggi principali durante una delle scene più drammatiche.

[2013]
Lyrics and music by Marlan L. Rhame III
Album: Shades of Gray [2014]

Song looks at the illusions versus the realities of war.
“I was at a County Fair several years ago and saw Marine Corps Recruiters with a red Hum-Vee [1] that had a monster stereo system and wondered what illusions and promises they were using to entice young people to sign up...”

[1994]
Lyrics & music by Bryan David Knight
Album: Heroes of the Earth [1995]

Latin Rock fused with Pop/Folk Rock. A clarion call for people to stand up for their lives, for freedom, for health, and most importantly of all, to protect humanity and all life upon our precious Earth.
“In the beginning, this song was conceived in conjunction with a series of songs I was writing that were all connected to Texas history. But the song soon grew into something much deeper and more philosophical - a clarion call to take action, to recognize our own innate power as Bodhisattva/Buddha, and to embrace our compassion for all humanity. Back in 1994 when I wrote this song, I wanted to inspire people to stand up for themselves - to think for themselves, to cherish their freedom and autonomy - to take action instead of waiting for someone else to come along and solve hard problems. It is up to each... (continua)

[2011]
Scritta da Chris Combs
Registrata nel 2011 al The Church Studio di Tulsa, Oklahoma.

La campagna elettorale di Donald Trump – presidente in carica nonchè riferimento del suprematismo bianco - è ripartita da Tulsa.
A Tulsa proprio ieri si è verificato l'ennesimo assassinio di un nero disarmato da parte di un bianco armato, un tutore dell'ordine.

A Tulsa, tra la fine di maggio e l'inizio di giugno del 1921, avvenne uno dei più gravi attentati a sfondo razzista nella storia degli USA. Un'enorme mob di bianchi attaccò il quartiere nero di Greenwood, lo diede alle fiamme, radendolo al suolo, uccidendo forse 300 persone (anche se i morti ufficiali furono "solo" 39). Tutto accadde col pretesto della solita, falsa notizia della violenza di un negro contro una donna bianca... Poliziotti, guardie private e persino la National Guard chiamata a soffocare i disordini si accanirono contro gli... (continua)

[1997]
Brani scritti da John Williams, classe 1932, prolificissimo compositore e direttore d'orchestra statunitense, celebre per moltissime colonne sonore per il cinema, composte fin dagli anni 50. Cinque premi Oscar.
Nella colonna sonore di "Rosewood", film diretto a John Singleton nel 1997.
Il primo brano è cantato da Shirley Caesar. Il secondo è corale, ma al momento non sono riuscito ad attribuirlo più precisamente.

Rosewood, Florida, gennaio 1923.
Nella Contea di Levy i bianchi stavano a Sumner e i neri a Rosewood. Le relazioni erano consolidate ma guardinghe. La comunità nera era segregata, come voleva le legge del tempo. La storia della contea e dello Stato era costellata di violenze e linciaggi dei bianchi ai danni dei neri.
In quel gennaio del 1923 successe che un negro prigioniero fuggì da una vicina colonia penale e una donna bianca raccontò di essere stata aggredita e violentata... (continua)

[1971]
Scritta da Renaldo Benson, Al Cleveland e Marvin Gaye
Nell'album "What's Going On"
Ripresa l'anno dopo da Aretha Franklin nell'album "Amazing Grace", in cui la diva del soul ritornava alle sue origini gospel inciso dal vivo a Los Angeles con il Southern California Community Choir
Testo da Genius
Da ultimo, nella colonna sonora del film di Spike Lee "Da 5 Bloods" ("Come fratelli")

[2015]
Lyrics and music by Kamal Imani

In light of recent and current national and world events we the people must find new ways of encouraging the governments to try peace and diplomacy!
Conscious hip hop lyricist and spoken word performance poet Kamal Eman, AKA Kamal Imani tells us to "Put The Peace Sign Up" as he breaks down the problems and solutions for our world with this Arabic laced hip hop track!
“I was reading Sufism and it was talking about peace being the more intelligent remedy than violence. This is right after the bombings in Paris. I had to put it down for the people seen?”

(2020)
Written By
Blu June, Brittany Coney, Worldwide Fresh, Derek Dixie, Kaydence, Caso, Jay-Z & Beyoncé

Beyoncè ha pubblicato una nuova canzone, "Black Parade" e lo ha fatto nel giorno in cui si festeggia la fine della schiavitù negli Stati Uniti (Juneteenth). La cantante ha scelto il giorno adatto per far uscire una canzone che parla di radici, dell'essere afro americani, dell'essere donna, in una canzone che in qualche modo parla a sua figlia e a tutta l'America.
Il significato di Black Parade, in cui Beyoncé canta l’orgoglio di essere neri

[1965]
Lyrics & music by Peter Krug
EP: Songs of Opposition / Rag Baby Talking Issue, Vol 1, Issue A (B-side)

Album: Collector's Items (The First Three EPs) [1980]

Pete Krug would be totally forgotten today had he not, by circumstance, ended up on the very collectable first release by a major California psychedelic group. In late 1965, Country Joe & the Fish – still a folk jugband for the most part – put out their first two tracks, early versions of "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag" and "Superbird", on a four-song EP accompanying the magazine Rag Baby. Country Joe & the Fish were only on the A-side, however; the B-side was devoted to two solo acoustic performances by Krug, a San Francisco Bay Area folk singer/songwriter. The two songs were mediocre mid-'60s topical folk tunes, not helped by the drab melodies and Krug's unsteady, inexpressive vocals. "Fire in the City"... (continua)

(2017)
Album: Bloodlust

Testo e intro da Genius

“No Lives Matter” is the first single from Body Count’s highly anticipated sixth album Bloodlust. It is a heated rebuttal to the controversial phrase ‘All Lives Matter’, itself a response to the polarising ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement. In the midst of a tumultuous US political season, Ice-T voices his opinion on the importance of unity in the face of oppression, which he highlights as going much deeper than just race issues.

The track features samples from news broadcasts on the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott in September 2016.

(2020)
Produced by DJ Premier

Release Date: June 19, 2020

Sono tornati i Public Enemy con un potente pezzo di protesta contro Donald Trump, scritto in diretta durante le proteste seguite alla morte di George Floyd.

The Sensational Nightingales is a traditional black gospel quartet that reached its peak of popularity in the 1950s, when it featured Julius Cheeks as its lead singer. The Nightingales, with several changes of membership, continue to tour and record.
The group was founded in 1942 by Barney Parks, who had formerly sung with The Dixie Hummingbirds.

( da Wikipedia )

[2020]
Lyrics & music by Lee Shapiro

“A song about power, politics and medication. Along with anger, fear, depression and hopelessness. I wrote this song on 02/02/2020 and recorded it at 2020 (8:20 pm), just before the CoronaVirus became a pandemic and before we became aware of it. So, perhaps this song should be called "2020 Part 1".
I had three things on my mind: Politics, pain and my mental health. All of which seems to be deteriorating by the day. The Democratic Party has let me down and I’m resigned to be stuck with Trump for another 4 years. My doctors have let me down. They’ve teamed up against me, and it seems they’re more concerned about getting in trouble with the government than they are with my quality of life. I’ve been extremely angry and scared for so long because of this, but have finally become numb and now feel powerless. I’ve given up the fight. I just don’t care anymore. And that’s what this song is about”.
Well, it can happen to anyone ...

[2007]
Lyrics & music by William Sollox
Album: War Stories

[2007]
Written, composed, performed and produced by Mario Strack
Album: The Songs 3 [2008]

[2020]
Lyrics & music by David Rovics
Album: Notes from a Failed State

A handsome man targeted by the local police in Alpine, Texas from an early age, Alvaro Luna Hernandez has been in prison since 1996, for the crime of daring to defend himself against a racist police officer with murderous intent.

1973
Singolo poi incluso nell'album There Goes Rhymin' Simon


da Songfacts :

- Paul wanted to do a gospel-feel type song….... And he wanted to have fun with the lyrics. This was recorded in early 1973, around the time the Senate Watergate Committee was holding its famous hearings and Paul couldn't resist the playful reference.

- I read in an interview Simon gave that the lines "My momma loves me....." are specifically about Nixon, that no matter how many dirty things he did, in Nixon's mind it was ok because his mom loved him.

- I like the way the speaker's (Nixon?) means of justifying himself shows a corruption of his soul. In the beginning he is "consecrated" by some religious rite, an outpouring of God's mercy. Then he is "consummated", referring to the act of consummation which makes complete and is justified by the marriage rite, but at the same time refers to the sex act in... (continua)

(2020)
Album: RTJ4 (2020)
feat. Pharrell Williams & Zack De La Rocha
Testo da genius

In questi giorni si parla tanto di tirare giù le statue dei razzisti, giustamente, ma cosa dire dei personaggi ritratti sulle banconote? Negli Stati Uniti i dollari riportano le effigi di Presidenti. Quasi tutti i presidenti ritratti nelle banconote sono stati padroni di schiavi.

George Floyd è andato a pagare le sigarette con una banconota da 20 dollari, probabilmente falsa. Sui venti dollari è ritratto il presidente Andrew Jackson. Quando fu eletto alla Casa Bianca nel 1830 Jackson possedeva 14 schiavi neri - otto donne e sei uomini. 190 anni dopo il nero George Floyd è stato ucciso per aver usato una banconota falsa dove era ritratto uno schiavista.

Sei anni fa, un altro afro americano, Eric Garner, è stato fermato dalla polizia con il sospetto di avere venduto delle sigarette di contrabbando... (continua)

[2020]

No matter what is said about it, the ruling class in the US will not defund the police. To do so would be to overthrow their brutally unequal, sick form of society. But it's nice to imagine what it might be like to be liberated. David Rovics

Album: RTJ4 (2020)
Testo da genius

E forse conviene partire dal sesto brano, Walking in the snow.

A un certo punto del pezzo Killer Mike dice: “And you so numb you watch the cops choke out a man like me and ‘til my voice goes from a shriek to whisper, ‘I can’t breathe’. And you sit there in the house on couch and watch it on TV”. In questo verso il rapper critica l’insensibilità con cui i mezzi d’informazione e il pubblico affrontano i tanti omicidi commessi dalla polizia contro afroamericani disarmati. Quel “I cant’ breathe” si riferisce all’omicidio di Eric Garner, un nero ucciso dalla polizia nel 2014, ma è diventato incredibilmente attuale in questi giorni, dopo che un altro afroamericano, George Floyd, è morto dopo aver pronunciato la stessa frase a un poliziotto che gli premeva il ginocchio sul collo. Ed è anche per questo che i Run The Jewels hanno deciso di anticipare l’uscita... (continua)

[1973]
Scritta da Conny Veit
In "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee", il secondo album per questa band "krautrock" di Stoccarda.
Un concept dedicato al genocidio dei nativi nord americani.

Fort Lyon, Colorado, autunno 1864.
Durante i colloqui di pace tra nativi ed autorità militari statunitensi, i Cheyennes del capo Moke-tav-a-to (Black Kettle) si accamparono presso il Fiume Sand Creek, poche miglia a nord della base militare. La maggioranza degli uomini partì per una battuta di caccia. Al campo rimasero solo i più vecchi, le donne e i bambini. Sul campo svettavano la bandiera bianca e quella a stelle e strisce.
Il 28 novembre l'accampamento cheyenne fu raggiunto e circondato da un reggimento di soldati, proveniente da Fort Lyon, al comando del colonnello John Chivington, eroe della guerra civile, soprannominato “The Crimson Parson”, ossia – credo – Il Cardinale, per via del suo passato... (continua)

2020 Riots: How Many Times
[ 2020 ]
Lyrics and music /Testo e musica / Paroles et musique / Sanat ja sävel
Trey Songz

Accadde il 7 giugno 2020

Attivisti inglesi durante una protesta multirazziale a Bristol hanno abbattuto la statua di Edward Colston , negriero e “filantropo”. Il gesto ha un alto valore simbolico. Il primo ministro Boris Johnson l’ha bollato come un gesto criminale mentre il sindaco di Bristol ha dichiarato che la statua era un “affronto” e di “non avvertire la sensazione di una perdita”. Era ora.

(1969)

The song "Tricia, Tell Your Daddy" (Steed Records # 715), performed on this single by Andy Kim in 1969, targeted President Nixon's daughter Tricia. The narrator pleaded with her to spread "love and peace", and stop the "people dying needlessly" because Nixon "is everybody's daddy now". Composed by Jeff Barry & Marty Joe Kupersmith (aka Marty Sanders) of the band Jay and The Americans, who released their own version of the song in 1970: Tricia Tell Your Daddy, arranged by Donald Fagen & Walter Becker, otherwise known as Steely Dan.

Vietnam War Songs Project

[2008]
Lyrics & music by Sean T. Wright
Album: War No More

War No More, released at the end of March 2008, “is a very special album”, Wright said. “It's my first album that carries a strong anti-war motif throughout. It tells a story that switches narrative, from my strong personal views to the wider perspective of my alter-ego Jimmy, who appears in many of my songs. It completes a very traumatic and paradoxically creative year. It culminated with the loss of my father to cancer on the eve of the album's completion, as well as working with the innovative production genius of Mark Tinley (Duran Duran, Adamski, Dandy Warhols)”.

[1988]
Album: Straight Outta Compton
Songwriter(s): Ice Cube; MC Ren; The D.O.C.

Chicago police scanners hacked by Anonymous to play N.W.A.’s ‘Fuck Tha Police’

In the wake of the death of George Floyd who died on Monday, May 25th due to police brutality, Anonymous has joined up with protests and hacked Chicago police scanners to play N.W.A.’s ‘Fuck Tha Police’.

This past week has seen the Black Lives Matter movement escalate to an entirely new level. Following the death of a 46-year-old man named George Floyd, who died due to asphyxiation from being held to the ground by a police officer placing his knee in the crook of Floyd’s neck, the USA, and many places around the world, have seen pure outrage.

Beyond peaceful protests, there has been rioting, looting, and many people calling for a systematic change, including many musicians using their social platforms to promote justice.

Now,... (continua)

The lyrics of this song give the song a dramatic type of feel. The lyrics are saying that during the fight to win freedom, the soldiers (fighters) have had struggles and emotional and mental breakdowns but couldn't give up and had to continue to fight. The overall story being told in the song is very drama filled but real experiences and situations that real people had to go through.
-A'Tora Richardson
(From Smithsonian Folkways Recordings )

Music was essential to the African-American struggle for civil rights and equality. "We Are Soldiers in the Army" demonstrates how the Black American traditional song repertoire and older styles of singing were used to inspire and organize the Civil Rights Movement. The singers here remind us that the days of open discrimination and bigotry are not far behind us, and that "it's people's hearts we're trying to change now."

"History will have to record... (continua)

Fairmont 1969
(c) 2007 Bill Kostelec
Storyteller 2

Memories of the area around where Bill grew up south of Chicago. We must remember the stories, we must make change, and we must have hope.

Memorial Day
(c) 2004 W. A. Kostelec
Railroad Boy

(c) W. A. Kostelec
Working Man 2004

Who Will Break the Chain?
(c) Kathy Kostelec, March 22, 2008

1974
Album: The Force Of Life

Words and Music by Mike Stout
Additional Words by Red Star Singers - 1974

We heard "Vietnam Will Win!" on a tape from New York made by Mike Stout.

We liked it but we wanted to rework parts of it. Gary rewrote some of the words and added a verse and Michael made some changes in the music. All this was done without Mike Stout ever hearing it. When we finally contacted him to let him know we changed the song and wanted to use it be was (fortunately) very pleased.

1974
Album: The Force Of Life
Testo da YouTube

In the '60's a lot of spirituals and rock 'n' roll songs were overhauled to become freedom songs for civil rights demonstrators. “Pig Nixon” comes from “Oh Wallace,” (“you're never gonna jail us all”) which people sang in Alabama. We use “Pig Nixon” as an all-purpose song, writing verses for the occasion, each verse about a current issue.

[1970]
Lyrics & music by Skeeter Davis
Album: It's Hard To Be A Woman

In 1970 Skeeter Davis aimed “When You Gonna Bring Our Soldiers Home” directly at president Nixon. Voicing a woman’s perspective, Skeeter declared, “Every mother has to worry about the son she loves, And every sweetheart has to worry too". Although Nixon did not think she should “protest” or “question” his policies, “I think I’ve got a right 'cause I just got word tonight, The Man I love was killed there yesterday, When you gonna bring our soldiers home?”. The following year, Arlene Harden’s “Congratulations, You Sure Made a Man Out of Him” was equally bitter and provided an even more frontal challenge to the South’s patriotic militarism. Unlike Lynn’s and Davis’ songs, in which the US soldiers had died, the character in this song had returned home profoundly impaired: “I watch him just sit by the window and silently... (continua)

[2018]
Lyrics & music by Jon Pizarro
Album: The White Plague

"The White Plague" is the new album of the American One-Man Band Dead Work. This new chapter draws its influences in Atmospheric Black Metal, Crust and Acoustic Folk for all fans of Panopticon, Falls of Rauros or Nechochwen Jon Pizarro (Dead Work): "This album has been a passion project of mine since I first started Dead Work back in 2012. In high school my teacher would hand out excerpts from A Peoples History by Howard Zinn to go along with our textbook readings. Viewing history from the viewpoint of the oppressed was both heartbreaking and infuriating, but also eye opening. Of all the injustices covered in that book, the one that struck hardest was the cold and calculated extermination of Indigenous populations. My father being Puerto Rican, I first started reading about the indigenous populations of the Caribbean that... (continua)

(2020)

Il primo singolo del nuovissimo disco di Seasick Steve in uscita a luglio

(2020)

“FTP,” standing for “Fuck the Police,” is a single from California rapper YG. The track, released during nationwide protests regarding George Floyd’s May 2020 murder, is meant to address the trends of police brutality inequitably affecting Black Americans.

The track was first announced by YG on Instagram on June 1, 2020, where he revealed the track’s cover art and imminent release later in the week.

This is not the first time YG has made a politically-driven track. In March 2016, he released a similarly-acronymic track “FDT (Fuck Donald Trump)” to address his issues grievances with Donald Trump, who was running for president at the time (before his eventual election).

YG – FTP - Genius

A due anni di distanza dall’uscita del singolo FDT (Fuck Donald Trump), YG ha pubblicato in risposta alla morte di Floyd e alle proteste dei giorni successivi il pezzo FTP, acronimo di “Fuck The... (continua)

[2007]
Lyrics & music by William Sollox
Album: War Stories

Number 1 On Neil Young's Web Chart with "Take Your War And Stick It Up Your Arse" !

“To all those who have been voting/listening - a great big thank you. We are hoping to use this to launch a publicity campaign in the UK media. Let's also not forget that, more important than songs going up charts, we can get this war ended as soon as possible. Sollox and The Spooners have been making music for a long time, but the exposure that the www can give them has inspired them to new efforts.

Hmm . . . the title tells you what this one's about. Apologies to our cousins across the Atlantic - English spelling of 'ass' ”.

[2013]
Lyrics & music by Alun Parry
Album: When The Sunlight Shines

The miners’ strike of 1984-85 was a major industrial action to shut down the British coal industry in an attempt to prevent colliery closures. It was led by Arthur Scargill of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) against the National Coal Board (NCB), a government agency. Opposition to the strike was led by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who wanted to reduce the power of the trade unions.

The NUM was divided over the action and many mineworkers, especially in the Midlands, worked through the dispute. Few major trade unions supported the NUM, primarily because of the absence of a vote at national level. Violent confrontations between flying pickets and police characterised the year-long strike, which ended in a decisive victory for the Conservative government and allowed the closure... (continua)

[2020]

PIG FEET è il brano realizzato da Terrace Martin con Denzel Curry, Kamasi Washington, G Perico e Daylyt dopo le proteste per l'uccisione di George Floyd

(1971)
dal capolavoro di Marvin Gaye, What's Going On, un album che forse sarebbe da aggiungere quasi integralmente nel sito.

Dalle sonorità latine che la distinguono dal sound complessivo dell'album, che si prestava ad essere ascoltato ininterrottamente come una lunghissima canzone, questa Right On è un vero e proprio inno alla pace e all'amore universale.

(2015)
Written By
Kawan Prather, Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell Williams & Sounwave
feat. Pharrell Williams & Thundercat
Album: To Pimp a Butterfly

Testo da Genius


Se vogliamo capire qualcosa del movimento Black Lives Matter e più in generale della cultura afroamericana negli Stati Uniti non possiamo prescindere dall'hip hop. L'hip hop è praticamente l'unica musica ascoltata dai giovani neri (e anche da molti bianchi) negli Stati Uniti. Durante una manifestazione, una protesta, una rivolta, una rivoluzione che non sarà trasmessa in televisione, la colonna sonora non sarà il rock anche quando parla della violenza della polizia. Non sentirete Springsteen con American Skin (41 Shots) o i RATM con Killing In The Name, anche se si tratta di canzoni con un testo perfetto per protestare contro i poliziotti razzisti. Molto più probabilmente sentirete Kendrick Lamar e la sua Alright.

L'hip... (continua)

(2016)

Lo Spiritual ipnotico e frammentato di Jay-Z riflette la disillusione dell’artista. «Dovremmo essere più avanti», ha detto. Il rapper ha finito il pezzo dopo la morte di Michael Brown nel 2014 sapendo «che la sua morte non sarebbe stata l’ultima».

“Io non sono veleno / Sono solo un ragazzo del quartiere che ha alzato le mani / In preda alla disperazione: non sparare”.

22 canzoni per Black Lives Matter da Rolling Stone

On July 7, 2016, Jay Z released the single “spiritual” in response to two separate successive killings of black men in the days prior. Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were murdered by police officers who claimed both men were armed at the time they were killed.

In a statement released with the single, which includes a quote from 19th-century African-American social reformer Frederick Douglass, Jay Z claimed that he had made the track a while ago and never got... (continua)

(2016)

Written “between the hours of 4am and around 7am” in a London hotel room and tagged #blacklivesmatter on SoundCloud, “How Many” is Miguel’s response to the July 2016 police shootings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling. Miguel promised to update the demo every week until it’s finished.

2020

Instant song scritta in seguito alla morte di George Floyd, cui sono seguite numerose proteste, anche violente, e le vergognose reazioni di quella specie di pupazzo di nome Donald Trump

12-year-old singer's heartbreaking song in wake of George Floyd's death becomes rallying cry

"I'm a young black man, doing all that I can to stand...I just want to live," gospel singer Keedron Bryant sings.

2020
Negro