Black Voices – 1E4

Black culture in America was made by many voices: trough songs or speeches for instance. Here is a book introducing the most famous of those voices, which had the biggest impact on Black History.

Furthermore, as these voices continue to reverbate through history, these speeches, mottos and melody participate in canonising the one who uttered them: they are the heroes of Black history.

Changes by 2pac 

2pac or Tupac Shakur by his birth name Lesane Parish was an afro american rapper born in 1971 in East Harlem, New-York and died murdered in Las Vegas. 2pac might be the most famous rapper of all time. He sold more than 75 million albums.He is considered as a symbol of activism against inequality, a poet and an american actor. He grew up in a family which campaigned with the Black Panthers. He was a social activist and his music denounces the issues of inequalities and racism. He was shot in 1994 five times and he was stolen.His songs and his early death made him an anthem of the rap.

1.

Tupac’s music and philosophy is rooted in many American, African-American and global entities. This album is heavily influenced by the social conscience and Afrocentrism ubiquitous in hip-hop in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Tupac is a rapper, he chose his name in homage to the Inca leader of African Americans. His song Changes is about discrimination against blacks in the United States. Changes is a song by rapper Tupac Shakur recorded in 1992, then remixed in 1997-1998. He talks about social and racial inequalities under a capitalist system. The song is about all of the different issues encountered in Tupas’s life, including racism, police brutality drugs, and gang violence. This title, among the most popular and the most appreciated of the rapper, mets with great success in many countries. The song is featured with Talent, it refers to racism, the war on drugs, the treatment of black people by the police. In 2009 the song was released on the Vatican Playlist.

2.

Changes was released posthumously and quickly became one of Tupac’s biggest success. In the song, he references his own experiences about drugs, racism and poverty.
The goal of the song Changes is to approach the controversial subject of police brutality against the afro-american population. In fact, he explains that if a cop killed a black person, he would be considered as a hero and the death of the man that he killed would not be important. Tupac wants his community to join him in the fight against those problems. He explains in his song that there is a war in the Middle East that causes poverty problems in the american population but the government is focused on dealing with drug problems because the afro-american population is concerned. It reveals an over representation of racism in the USA. He encourages his community to create links and an unity that would allow them to be stronger in this conflict, more united. Those changes would allow the afro-american community to stand up.

3.

We chose to introduce this song because it made black history, rap history, world history. He participated in popularizing rap music and hip hop which is a genre that originated amongst the Black community. He was also a socially engaged citizen. He fought for racial equality all his life and made rap music popular. He expressed in the song “changes” the difficulties of being a black man like in the sentence “I’m tired of bein’ poor, and even worse I’m black”. He also talked about police violence against black people. He said nothing changes about racism. With his songs people could hear the black voices of poor districts and understand their difficulties.

I have a dream: 28 août 1963

Autor: Martin Luther King (1929-1968) 

Martin Luther King is an african-american pastor who fought against racial segregation.

He pronounced his famous speech “I have a dream” on the 28th august 1963 and received the Peace Nobel Prize in 1964. He was assassinated on the 4th April 1964 at Memphis by James Earl Ray. Since 1986, “Martin Luther King” day is a

public holiday celebrated in the United States.

Reason why it makes history:

His speech remains a step forward for the black community, even nowadays, because all through his speech, he points out how unequal and unbearable the situation is for them. He denounces the American government and the racism they’re victims of. He approaches the issue in the beginning by underlining the gap between the American dream and reality, saying that white supremacists broke that very dream, and that “the American government did the same, because of its inaction and its hypocrisy (caused by their racism), hence by betraying the ideal of justice. The speech was ranked at the top of all American speeches made in the 20th century.

Marvin Gaye-What’s going on

Marvin Gaye is an American soul singer. He was born on April the 2^nd, 1939 in Washington D.C.; and he died on April the 1^st, 1984 in Los Angeles.  He was also an American songwriter who met with outstanding success during the 1960s. During this period, he released many hits which allowed him to become famous. Moreover, in 1971 Marvin Gaye released a record considered to have had a major impact worldwide, more specifically in the history of soul music and popular music overall: this album was called What’s Going On. His record was ranked sixth on Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2003. It is an album he wrote all on his own. It includes many songs that are still covered by artists today. Marvin Gaye continued to be successful in the 1970s, and in 1982 he recorded the CD Midnight Love containing the famous title Sexual Healing.

However the singer went through a deep depression.
 What’s Going On is dedicated to Marvin Gaye’s parents and his brother Frankie who, upon his return, recounted the horror of fighting and the trauma that ensued.
Inspired by the police brutality witnessed by Renaldo Benson, these words resonate like a prayer, a message of universal love against violence and for the youth.  But the song is the opposite of what was being done at the time on Motown*.
The song also addresses the evolution of a society that persists in criticizing rebellious youth. The title of the song is not a question but an assertion, a commitment that Marvin Gaye defends in the face of Berry Gordy’s** refusal to release it as a singles.

*a mythical record label which led the movement for the release of soul music produced by Black artists

**the founder of Motown record