Page 8 The Skanner January 13, 2016
Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
How Popular Music is Fueling the Black Lives Matter Movement
LONG BEACH, Calif
— I still remember the
first time I heard Lupe
Fiasco’s “All Black Every-
thing.” I was in my apart-
ment in Davis, Calif.,
where I attended college.
When I heard the words,
I was reminded of the
history of Black people
in America. It made me
want to learn even more
about my history. Every-
one has a sphere of influ-
ence, and the music made
me ask myself: “How am I
using mine?”
Since August 2014,
when unarmed teenag-
er Michael Brown was
killed by police officer
Darren Wilson in Fergu-
son, Mo., young people
have rallied in the streets
of Ferguson, New York,
Oakland, Los Angeles
and other cities across
the nation and the world.
In Long Beach, young
people recently began
organizing around the
slogan #BlackLivesMat-
ter, a campaign born in
2012 after Trayvon Mar-
tin’s killer, George Zim-
PHOTO BY THECOMEUPSHOW (CC BY 2.0)
By Deonna Anderson
Special to the NNPA from
VoiceWaves / New
America Media
J. Cole, shown here in London in 2011, released “Be Free” six days after
Mike Brown’s death. He joins a growing number of recording artists
providing a soundtrack for the Black Lives Matter movement.
merman, was acquitted
of murder charges.
Throughout, music has
been an undeniable part
of the protests, the latest
reminder that when used
the right way, music can
inspire social change.
“Music can be consid-
ered the heartbeat of
social movements,” says
Eric Tandoc, a DJ and a
community
organizer
at the Filipino Migrant
Center in Long Beach.
Tandoc regularly uses
art to inspire youth to
take action on social and
political issues.
“Not everyone is going
to listen to a speech or
read a book, but people
will listen to a three-min-
ute song,” he says.
SEATTLE/KING COUNTY MLK JR. CELEBRATION COMMITTEE
MLK INFORMATION AND OPPORTUNITY FAIR
Monday, January 18, 2016, 1:30-4:00 PM at Garfield High School Library
Representatives from the city of Seattle, Washington State, King County, Sound Transit, Port
of Seattle, United Negro College Fund, Seattle Colleges, University of Washington, Seattle
Vocational Institue, King County Labor Council, Goodwill, and several unions will be avail-
able to discuss opportunities in education, job training, apprenticeship programs, pre-ap-
prenticeship programs, contract and business opportunities. For further information contact
Eddie Rye Jr. 206-786-2763.
Nationally, respected
musicians such as Quest-
love of the hip hop group
The Roots have urged
musicians to create more
protest songs, and artists
are responding.
The truth of the matter
is, musicians have more
influence than I do, and
even more influence than
they had in the 1980s or
1960s. In the age of social
media, the possibility of
communication between
musicians and their fans
has been brought to an
all time high. If young
people see their favorite
musician talking about
social change, they might
pay more attention to
what is happening and be
inclined to get involved
“
they expect respect and
non-violence/I
refuse
the right to be silent.”
Fellow Long Beach rap-
per Crooked I, recently
going by Kxing Crooked,
released “I Can’t Breathe”
in which he raps, “So,
no, I can’t buy that pellet
gun/They might try to
Tamir Rice you.”
(Tamir Rice was a 12-
year old Black boy who
was killed by a police of-
ficer in Cleveland)
But lyrics about the
current events aren’t
just happening locally
in Long Beach. Let’s go
down the list:
• Six days after Brown’s
death, hip-hop artist J.
Cole recorded and re-
ens,” on “Black Rage,”
which she released
a couple weeks after
Brown’s death.
• The Game brought
together over ten hip-
hop and R&B artists
including Rick Ross,
2 Chainz, Wale, Swizz
Beatz, Curren$y, and
TGT to produce “Don’t
Shoot.”
• Tink sang and rapped
on “Tell the Children”
a few days after the
grand jury decided not
to indict Wilson for the
murder.
• Rapper Dizzy Wright
also released a song
called “I Need An-
swers.”
These songs are the
Music can be considered the heartbeat of so-
cial movements. Not everyone is going to lis-
ten to a speech or read a book, but people will
listen to a three-minute song
in making a positive im-
pact.
In his song “Hands Up,”
north Long Beach na-
tive Vince Staples raps,
“Raidin’ homes without a
warrant/Shoot him first
without a warning/And
leased “Be Free.”
• Lauryn Hill belted out
the lyrics, “Black rage
is founded on two-
thirds a person/Rap-
ings and beatings and
suffering that wors-
21st century protest
songs. While each of
these songs were created
as a response to the kill-
ing of Michael Brown in
Ferguson, Missouri, they
See MUSIC on page 11