Activism has played an integral role in society through out the centuries

Jennifer Hicks

Citizen Advocacy and Social Movements

5/01

The Relation ship between Music and the Activist Culture

Activism has played an integral role in society through out the centuries. A majority of the events that created our laws and way of life came about as a result of citizen's demands for change. However, many uprisings over the centuries organically emerged and intertwined with individual’s daily life. And within the work activists took on were the elements that provided an opportunity for expression - namely the arts. Whether it is a still life painting from the 17th century symbolically declaring the evils of thoughtless affluence, an opera written in the 1800's telling the story of the poor and the oppressed, or a country song in the 1990's asking if freedom truly exists in the United States, consumers and producers of the arts frequently experience the natural connection between art and social/political movements.

Music providing political expression

Music has been a strong and essential force in the change movement. In the book "Music as Propaganda. Art to Persuade, Art to Control" by Arnold Perris, the author focuses on different eras of Europe and the United States and their use of music to educate, promote, propagandize, or place pressure on an unjust situation. "No society yet studied is without music, neither in the tiny, lost tribe of the Philippine Tasaday nor in the rigorously censored lives of eight hundred million Chinese during the Cultural Revolution." In short, music is everywhere in society and used in various ways including entertainment, inspiration, celebrations, or in religious events. Music as propaganda Perris explains, includes "...songs of protest, satire, praise, or scorn from all times..." He continues by saying" Music allows us to make connections to thoughts, memories, and ideas through melodies and lyrics".

There is no doubt that music has power. Leaders through out history saw the magnitude in which song provides. Often, these leaders dramatically responded to the expression either by harnessing its strength or suppressing its energy out of fear. A socialist/communist philosophy emphasized that music should be created for the masses providing a product that can be consumed by the lower class. It was also believed that music should be used to promote a revolutionist message and should have a purpose. Being the force that it is, religious music was banned in communist Europe for fear of providing a message that did not promote a totalitarian philosophy[i]2. Mao Zedong believed in the arts to promote the revolutionary culture during his reign as leader in China. He was quoted as saying:

"Revolutionary culture is a powerful revolutionary weapon for the broad masses of the people. It prepares the ground ideologically before the revolution comes and is an important and essential fighting front in the general revolutionary front during the revolution."

In this he emphasizes the revolutionary culture as a powerful way to create a mentality among people to live and fight for the revolution.

The socialist/communist leadership in the early to mid 20th century was responding to the Marxist view that "all art speaks for a class, the ruling class in every period of history." Music, early on, had been seen as an art for elitists[ii]. Although socialist/communist philosophy takes on an inclusive mentality, it also shaped the music that could be listened to. And with the criteria set for the society, mostly Eastern Europe and China, there was a legal limit to expression, open-minded thinking, and activism.

"Some art, however, transcends the social and economic setting from which it arose," writes Perris. Greek dramas and Shakespearean plays are strong examples of art for the common people[iii]. These pieces and performances were some of the earliest forms of societal self-reflection know in western civilization, and no less powerful in its impact.

Political music from 19th and early 20th centuries

It seems as though opera is one of the first real musical genres that boasted examples of political expression. This was the first time music and lyrics had been put together, allowing composers to tell a story. Beethoven and Franz Liszt were among the ranks of "protest musicians" in the early 1800's. Opera provided a vehicle for emotion and animation, allowing composers a chance to express their values directly and indirectly.

Beethoven's Fidelio is a story of a political prisoner, falsely accused exposing a theme based on tyranny.[iv] In 1805 this opera was banned until a few controversial scenes had been removed - during the same time Napoleon took over of Europe. This production was similar to others that ran at the same time, however Perris wrote, "...it was charged with more emotion and sheer sound than others." Liszt wrote music directly addressing the need for social reform. He wrote "Lyons"; in support of the silk worker's strike in Lyons, France in 1837.Lesser known opera composers used their work to make political statements as well. In 1830 Daniel Amber wrote La Muette de Portici. This production was reported to of have such an effect on the Belgium public, it led to its independence in Holland[v]

Early in 20th century Europe, music was used to promote nationalism and as propaganda for a "New Way". Much of the patriotic music was created in smaller countries in attempt to "gain ethnic visibility".[vi] Opera composer Wagner was the central figure of nationalistic music. His work entitled "Die Mewlersinger "stirred up genuine German feelings" and was able to create feeling of power and arrogance.[vii] Another Wagner piece entitled "Lohengrin" was the first opera Hitler ever saw and quickly committed the piece to memory. Once Hitler was in power, he began approving certain types of music, using Wagner as a model of "Aryan sense of discipline and moderation".

During the same time, musicals started to gain in popularity. Like operas, these performances became a place for political expression and activism. From Gilbert and Sullivan's spoofs of British aristocracy to the Gershwin brothers' "political operettas", the public found themselves both entertained and recipients of the composers' personal and political views.

"Strike up the Band" became a well-known and rather controversial production by Ira and George Gershwin. The story was based on their anti-war views, the stranglehold of big business, and the shadiness of current politics[viii]. This musical was made primarily to inform and target to bring awareness of the status of society[ix]. Not surprisingly, this did not make much money nor did it receive rave reviews, ending the songwriters' pursuit of political works. Another musical, "The Cradle will Rock", a "leftist play" by Marc Blitzstein during the Great Depression, was a story about striking steel workers and their plight to organize for fair working conditions. In the end the show ran for 14 weeks despite the director's battle against censorship and government control of the content[x].

Music's role in 20th century social causes

The labor movement has not only been the subject of musicals but of folksongs as well. There is question if one could have existed with out the other. Music played an essential role in communicating the unjust conditions found within industrial work settings. One industry in particular well known for its songs and its singers were the coal miners.

Icons of the coal mining unionism included people like Mother Jones and Aunt Molly Jackson. Both women saw the impacts of harsh working environments on their family and loved ones and dedicated their lives to support workers' rights. Molly Jackson was a nurse who became a songwriter in the 1920's, 30's, & 40's, telling stories about the plight of the Kentucky miner. She was known to speak at hearings to testify for the poor and hungry workers' family, and did so in song, including a song called "Hungry Ragged Blues".[xi]

I'm sad and weary; I've got these hungry ragged blues;

Not a penny in my pocket to buy one thing I need to use.

I woke up this morning with the worst blues I ever had in my life;

Not a bite to cook for breakfast, a poor coal miner's wife

For someone like Aunt Molly, writing and performing protest songs was a way to vent her anger and sadness about the state of the mineworker. She was quoted as saying that the song "Hungry Ragged Blues" was composed one morning when she found herself "feeling blue". "All I did was just to open my mouth and sing."[xii]

Molly's music brought increased awareness of her small Kentucky region to the mainstream. She began participating in workers rallies in large US cities as a minor celebrity, representing her home and the struggles they faced regularly. She eventually recorded "Hungry Ragged Blues" and toured around the country raising money for miner families. Soon others began singing about unions, workers rights, and during a 3-year period in the 1940's, there were a series of benefit concerts for various left wing causes, Aunt Molly as one of the many performers[xiii]. This was a breakthrough for protest music supporting labor.

As the emphasis shifted from workers' rights to civil rights in the 1950's and 1960's, so too did music. Church played an essential role in providing the song with the protest. In the book Music and Social Movements by Eyerman & Jamison, the authors note that "...the song leader played an important role in this process of recreating group identity and solidarity. Through out the civil rights movement, finding a song leader was as important to local organizing as filling any other leadership function"[xiv]

Civil rights protesters used their music to build bridges between classes and to support a unified effort for justice. Many songs, religiously based or not, gained their strength more so through their structure and not as much through their commercial success. " The melodies were simple but emotive, geared to being sung collectively. They invited participation, simple repetitive choruses, and rhyming couplets with an emotional and political content."[xv]

Recently, the environment has been the subject of hundreds of popular songs. It has been a basis for several benefit concerts, bringing together popular artists of varying genre to raise money and awareness about the urgency of ecological preservation. A recent example of music that promotes, supports, and financially benefits environmental issues is the rock music concert tour, Honor the Earth.

Honor the Earth raises money and awareness about environmental issues and making itself a national name, thanks to the well-known headline band The Indigo Girls. Amy Ray And Emily Sailers, the group's members, have supported environmental issues for about 20 years, maybe even before their band cut their first album.[xvi] The power of this act is the music and the issues that come together and support each other.

The tour has now raised over $500,000 for dozens of groups that focus on environmental and social justice of indigenous lands.[xvii] "Common people simply aren't heard in Washington. So we have to get some musicians to help us get heard" Native American rights activist Winona LaDuke was quoted as saying regarding her touring partners of Honor the Earth.[xviii] In fact, there are reports that audience members have approached the tour members to thank them for providing the information about the environmental injustices occurring on these lands. It was information they would not of had if they had not attended the concert.

Music in Politics - is this a natural partnership?

Politics in music hit its peak starting in the late 1950's and continued through the mid-1970's mostly through the revival of folksongs. Joan Baez's music was an example of how war, civil rights, and a counterculture nurtured this fiery style of song. The first step towards a more political musical style began with the first folk singers choosing songs of integrity over the money that could be made in the record industry. Pete Seeger, an original member of Woody Guthrie's group The Almanac Singers, remembers that they "offered songs of, by and for the people, not from Broadway and Hollywood for the profit of Broadway and Hollywood."[xix]

There is a belief that the political movement sustained the return of folk music. In Eyerman and Jamerson's book they wrote " If it were not for the political movements there would not have been a folk music revival in the US in the early 1960's" [xx] This might be true. In the example of Joan Baez, her choice of music and lyrics (when she started writing her own songs) shifted, as she became more politically active. And with musical grandfathers like Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly, there was a trend to create a type of music that reflects the hardships and struggle of the common man - a more liberal political view.

Eventually, concerts played a large part in the liberal political movement during the 1960's. "Folk clubs and, eventually, major festivals, particularly at Newport, RI, provided a new social space for experiencing a sense of community and collective identity, a new organizational form for cultural expression...The festivals were not just mass concerts; they also provided opportunities for social learning..."[xxi] There is belief that this music from this particular era was so popular and has sustained for so long because of its connection to a political culture.[xxii]

Bob Dylan is well known for his political nature and his gruff and bold approach to the message in his lyrics. Early in his career, he was reported as saying that his listeners saw him as something that he was not. He felt as though people saw him as someone who took on direct action with the issues that he sang about. This was not true, and in fact Joan Baez said in her autobiography that Dylan, as far as she knew, never participated in any non-violent or social action activity[xxiii].

This brings up an interesting debate: what responsibility do musicians have to include politics in their performance and in their lives? It is clear that well-known singer/songwriters have a captivated audience and could benefit a cause greatly by using their stage time to support the issue. "I don't know if the artist has a responsibility to society other to be true to his or her art, but as a human being first, integral to that gift of life is a responsibility to take part in making sure that things are moving in a good, respectful direction, one that takes into account future generations."[xxiv] Emily Sanders of the Indigo Girls was quoted as saying. I imagine much good has come of many musicians' willingness to use their gift of performance to support an issue.

Musicians who made a difference with their talent

Among the likes of Aunt Molly and the Indigo Girls there have been musicians who have sustained a long-term commitment to both their music and their message. There are musicians who have made it their life's work to both speak out and act out to the injustices that they believe unbearable, using the power of their music and their fame. (Please forgive the vast omissions made in the following list especially among the world music scene - I did not research beyond the well-known activist/musicians):

Woody Guthrie - Unions, justice for the working class, anti-fascist, anti-war, small farmers

Steve Earle - anti-death penalty, campaign for a landmine free world,

Don Henley: environmental preservation

Pete Seeger: anti-war, anti-corporate control, environmental preservation

Bruce Springsteen: justice for the working class, unions,

Sting: environmental & indigenous culture preservation

Peter Gabriel: Human rights, environmental preservation

Bruce Cockburn: preservation of indigenous culture, environmental protection, anti-

Corporate control

Greg Brown: anti-corporate control, environmental protection, welfare of children

Bono: Irish liberation

Sinead O'Connor: Catholic Church reform, Irish liberation, anti-corporate control

Arlo Guthrie: anti-war

John Lennon: anti-war

Paul McCartney: vegetarian, animal rights

Bernice Johnson Reagon: civil rights

These are just a fraction of the artists who have shown how music has become a "weapon" against hate, fear, and unfairness and how they risked their careers to carry the torch that reveals their true identity. Out all the names listed above, one has not been included - Joan Baez. The following section will delve into her legacy of activism and using her music as a vehicle of hope and message sending.

Joan Baez[xxv]

Joan Baez has played a remarkable role both in music and non-violent protest for over 30 years. Her song writing and her angelic voice alone captured an entire generation of music lovers. In addition, she has had a genuine passion for social justice issues and her presence on stage did not just provide a concert, but offered a movement.

Her activist nature began before her music career. In 1951 she spent the year in Bagdad while her father worked at the university. There was her first glimpse of social inequity and unjust actions through observed police beatings and sick begging children on the streets. She was brought up in a Quaker household and as she became a teenager she began learning about non-violent protest and pacifist movement. Her first non-violent protest occurred during a nuclear bomb drill in her school in California. She did research and found out that the drill had been misleading and stayed in the classroom rather than go home and sit in her basement as was instructed. Joan began playing the guitar in clubs on a regular basis at age 17. At that point, she had trouble balancing her increasing fame with her passion for political causes leading to the absence of an activist nature in her performances and her life until a few years later.

In 1962 she became aware of the inequality between black and whites and found out that no blacks were allowed to attend her shows. She told her promoters that she would only sign a contract for a summer concert tour if blacks were admitted to her performances and eventually played to one of the first integrated audiences in the South. Her interest in civil rights led her to Martin Luther King, Jr. one of her lifelong idols. 1966 she marched with him in Granada, Alabama as they lead black students to their first day in an all white school.

Over-lapping her civil rights work was her draft resistance efforts in response to the Vietnam War. She became an organizer of sit-ins at induction centers, risking arrest and spending time in jail for her act of non-cooperation. During her concerts, she spoke eloquently about the war and why there is an anti-war protest in gear. Baez even began her own school of non-violence and pacifism in California, leading workshops for both draft-dodgers and elders alike. She went on tour with her husband, David Harris, a well-known resister to talk about the anti-war, anti-draft movement. Later she would organize one of the largest demonstrations in Washington D.C. to stop US's involvement in Vietnam.

Soon it become clear that her message was beginning to create uneasiness among the mainstream, both commercial television and government officials. During a concert tour in Japan in 1967, she was given an interpreter who purposely mistranslated her comments about military draft and tax resistance and her belief that the US should not be in Vietnam through out her concerts. This later was revealed as a tactic to suppress her message avoiding uprising by audience members and action that could result from such "threatening" messages.

In 1972 Joan was introduced to Amnesty International while on tour in Italy. She decided that there should be a chapter set up in the US West Coast took on the initiative to start the Amnesty International West Coast. She devoted a year to direct fundraising and education about the issues of human rights violations by using her clout as a celebrity to land checks from generous millionaires. She also held concerts to raise money for specific Amnesty International causes (and continues her work with them today as an advisory council member). From then on she made information available at her concert about prisoners and action alerts.

In the later 70's she became involved with Amnesty's campaign to reveal the human rights atrocities occurring in Vietnam - a campaign highly controversial even among the liberal community. She continued her work by putting on a benefit concert on to fund a ship to rescue China Sea boat people and at the same time convincing President Carter to agree to send the ship off. She later re-visited Vietnam, along with Cambodia, Laos to see the refugee camps and brings publicity to their situation. She formed an organization, which raised over $1,000,000 for refugee care.

Joan's most well-know appearances occurred in 1969 and 1984 Woodstock and Live Aid respectively. Both events created a huge impact worldwide, each introducing a new way of seeing things. Live Aid was a benefit concert to support the elimination of world hunger. Her performance at Woodstock was a way to speak to her generation, where as, Live Aid was a chance to sing to a new generation of listeners.

Joan Baez's work, both musical and political, exemplifies the power of song to create awareness necessary to assist in fostering change for social and environmental justice. Baez knew what her "gift" of could provide to the world. It created a leader that went beyond the boundaries of the status quo; use her high profile to ask the questions that others did not feel comfortable to ask. And because of her courage thousands of people are empowered, active, and ready to make difference in the world.

Social Action Initiatives supported by Joan Baez

Amnesty International

The movement to abolish the death penalty in the United States

The Central Committee For Conscientious Objectors This group has been involved in nonviolent anti-war efforts for many years.

Bread & Roses is the organization founded and run by Joan's sister, Mimi Farina. Bread & Roses brings free, live entertainment to people confined in institutions or isolated from society.

Resource Center for Nonviolence . It's a wonderful resource for those interested in social change through nonviolence. Visit them!

Human Rights Watch .

Hard Miles Music brings together Folk Music and Labor Unions. Performer Phil Cohen is a lead organizer with UNITE

Jason Crowe is a young teen who is working on many peace and reconciliation issues, attempting to motivate young people around the world.

Music as a Tool for Activism

Today there are many organizations that create a connection between music and activism. Whether it's record company committed to supporting an idea or issue through music, or yearly benefit concert that creates a funding source for an institution, those outlets are available for amateur or professional musicians alike.

Hard Miles Music http://www.hardmilesmusic.com/index.shtml : devoted to restoring folk music and art to their rightful status within the labor movement. We are an independent record label presenting music, which springs from the hearts of those who have traveled down life's highway.

The G7 Welcoming Committee http://www.g7welcomingcommittee.com/: started in 1997 by Chris and Jord of Propagandhi, along with their friend Regal, to try and establish a collective of people who, together with bands, speakers, and writers, could produce and distribute music by and/or for people working for radical social change. As an independent media outlet, our goal is to spread the word, as it were, on radical politics through music and words, while maintaining the right to rock out and shake ass at the same time.

Musicians United to Sustain the Environment (M. U. S. E.) http://www.musemusic.org/:

A tax-exempt nonprofit organization utilizing music to promote environmental awareness and protection of our wilderness heritage. It is a rapidly growing non-profit environmental organization with two primary goals. First, we raise funds for effective grassroots environmental projects through CD sales, concerts, and public donations. Secondly, as we ply our musical craft, we heighten environmental awareness -- a vital step to help ensure the sustainable stewardship of our ecosystems. We are particularly interested in efforts to protect endangered or threatened species and preserve existing wilderness habitats. Also, our emphasis is on environmental education for our young -- the soon-to-be stewards of our natural heritage

The People's Music Network for Songs of Freedom and Struggle http://www.timbury.com/pmn/: A network of musicians, performers, songwriters, sound & recording engineers, music lovers, record & concert producers, promoters, archivists and more using music and culture to promote progressive ideas and values. We're committed to working with and supporting grassroots and community organizations, to explore and present the diversity of people's culture. We represent many social, racial, cultural, and ethnic communities as well as a great variety of musical and political interests. We are anti-racist activists, children's activists, feminists, labor organizers, lesbians and gays, and more. Our network stretches across the U. S. and Canada and includes other international members.

Bridge School Benefit Concert http://www.hyperrust.org/Bridge/Benefit.html: The annual Bridge School Benefit Concert provides the primary source of funding for the Bridge School. A great combination of good entertainment and a good cause. Bridge School programs enable physically challenged, severely speech impaired children to cross the threshold to achieving their full educational and social potential.

The Spitfire Tour http://www.spitfiretour.org/:.The Spitfire Tour was originally created in 1998 by a group of music industry friends who wanted to find a way to further promote the message behind the music they were involved in. It was their belief that a speaking tour would be a good way to generate interest in a number of causes that needed more grassroots attention. One of these people was human rights advocate Zack De la Rocha (Rage Against The Machine), who helped spearhead the project by reaching out to his activist friends like Amy Ray (Indigo Girls), Krist Novoselic (Nirvana) and more. These folks signed up to launch the first college tour in the fall of 1998, which turned out to be a terrific success. More than two years later, Spitfire continues to tour colleges, but is now a non-profit foundation, and focuses on student activism year-round.

The Spitfire Tour is a free speech tour of musicians, actors & activists speaking out on global affairs. Created in part by human rights advocate Zack De la Rocha (Rage Against The Machine), Spitfire tours to college campuses each year, primarily in the fall. Each event features at least four speakers, who are all on stage at once, but that speak one at a time. Topics range from human rights, to environmental justice, to social issues, to current campus issues. It is our belief that grassroots interaction is the key to positive change. By providing information on serious topics in a fun and entertaining environment (which includes spoken word, acoustic performances, slides, video, poetry and more. We aim to inspire youth to get involve in important issues.

Where can music take us next?

Shedding light on the undeniable relationship between music and activism is like discovering a new form of energy. This power has been around for probably as long as man has been on Earth, but not all of its potential has been completely tapped. As I learn more about artists who took their role as a message sender and movement leader seriously and saw the work they accomplished, I realize how important it is to inform these individuals about what they have access to.

As music becomes more of a message-sender, it becomes vulnerable to threatened and fearful power-holders. Music can provide one of the purest forms of democracy: allowing one to speak their mind, involving audience participation, and offering opportunities of diverse expression. No wonder communist and dictatorship governments suppressed and at times banned this art form.

I predict that activist music will be the foundation of the next major revolution in our country. Someone who has a clear vision of necessary change and can communicate it in song will get the ear of America and they will be able to take us where they want. This will be a song we will sing to our grandchildren who will sing it to their grandchildren and so on. Woody Guthrie had "This Land is Our Land", Bob Dylan had "Blowing in the Wind". Who's next?