Music & Protest

I am currently working on a paper about the role music played in the Civil Rights and Anti-apartheid Movements. What I have found is that music was used as a unifying tool. It was used to give the poeple without a voice, a voice. Music freed the oppressed and gave hope to the hopeless. Music as so power much to move and inspire, to motivate and keep motivated.
The Rastafari Movement and Reggae (especially at their starts) are just like the freedom songs sung by freedom fighters of both the Civil Rights and Anti-Apartheid Movements. The struggles were similar if not the same, with the only major difference being that Rastafari was a more religious movement.
The music of these movements spoke of freedom from the oppressor (i.e. whites, Europeanization, etc.) looking forward to better days, and 'black power.' Although in three very different locations, these movements were going on around the same time period, and in a sense happening to the same people just in different places. These people were fighting to live, to be themselves with no restrictions. They all were getting the message that 'black is bad and unhuman' but instead of accepting that they fought for a better reality. In these fights music was one of their most powerful weapons. They sung with conviction and passion and hope. The songs they sung got them through some of the toughest times. Although music was a effective and powerful weapon it was also one of the most subtle. Through music many things were said that otherwise probably wouldn't have been said (i.e. songs about the government). Music was the force behind these movements and one of the things that kept the fighters fighting and in a sense winning (i.e. voting rights, cultural acceptance, etc.). Today the music of these movements are remembered and in a sense revered, especially Reggae which helped create a stronger, healthier Jamacian culture and identity.