From the gospel music of slavery in the antebellum South to anti-apartheid freedom songs in South Africa, this two-volume work documents how music has fueled resistance and revolutionary movements in the United States and worldwide. Political resistance movements and the creation of music—two seemingly unrelated phenomenon—often result from the seed of powerful emotions, opinions, or experiences. This two-volume set presents essays that explore the connections between diverse musical forms and political activism across the globe, revealing fascinating similarities regarding the interrelationship between music and political resistance in widely different geographic or cultural circumstances. The breadth of specific examples covered in Sounds of Resistance: The Role of Music in Multicultural Activism highlights strong similarities between diverse situations—for example, protest against the Communist government in Poland and drug discourse in hip hop music in the United States—and demonstrates how music has repeatedly played a vital role in energizing or expanding various political movements. By exploring activism and how music relates to specific movements through an interdisciplinary lens, the authors document how music often enables powerless members of oppressed groups to communicate or voice their concerns.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Volume 1: Activism in the United States Introduction to Volume 1 Lindsay Michie 1. "Toward a Truer World": Overt and Implied Messages of Resistance from Slave Songs to Rap Ian Michie 2. Red Power: American Indian Activism through Powwow Music and Dance Paula Conlon and Paul McKenzie-Jones 3. Song and Vision in the U.S. Labor Movement Victor Wallis 4. Green Pastures of Plenty: Woody Guthrie and Eco-Citizenship Matthew D. Sutton 5. Urban Beats, Religious Beliefs, and Interconnected Streets in Indigenous Hip-Hop: North American Indian Influences in African American Music T. Christopher Aplin 6. Sight Syncs Sound: Civil Rights Music, Robert Houston's Photography, and the 1968 Poor People's Campaign Aaron Bryant 7. Anti–Vietnam War Protest Music Neill Clegg 8. Eco-Protest Music and the U.S. Environmental Movement Tyson-Lord J. Gray 9. Resistance and Relapse: The Politics of Drug Discourse in Rap Music Michael P. Jeffries 10. You're Equal but Different: Women and the Music of Cultural Resistance Charles Walton 11. The New Political Rhetoric of Hip-Hop Music in the Obama Era Craig A. Meyer and Todd D. Snyder Volume 2: International Activism Introduction to Volume 2 Eunice Rojas 12. "The Toyi-toyi Was Our Weapon": The Role of Music in the Struggle against Apartheid in South Africa Lindsay Michie and Vangeli Gamede 13. No Future: Punk Music in Postindustrial Britain and the United States Brian E. Crim 14. These Rocks Will Roll: Songs and Resistance in Communist Poland Marek Payerhin 15. Return of the Vagabond: Cui Jian and China's Democracy Movement Carlos Rojas 16. Afrobeat: The Music of Fela Kuti Lindsay Michie and Ayoyinka Oriola 17. Maldita Vecindad, Ritual, and Memory: Paz y Baile Lori Oxford 18. Insolent Origins and Contemporary Dilemmas: The Bachata Genre as a Vehicle for Social Commentary—Past and Present Patricia Reagan 19. The Cuban Protest Song from Pablo Milanés to Los Aldeanos Stephen Silverstein 20. Pulling at the Stake of Oppression: Lluís Llach's Catalan Nationalism from Dictatorship to Democracy Eunice Rojas 21. Reading and Sounding Protest: Musical and Lyrical Markers in Brazilian Tropicália and Canção Engajada Chris Stover 22. Hidden Histories of Resistance in Mexico's Son Jarocho Alexandro D. Hernández 23. "Spitting Phlegm at the System": The Changing Voices of Anticolonial Puerto Rican Protest Music Eunice Rojas Index