Artists Capture Our Outrage and Desire to Change the World
Updated December 27, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
D’Angelo and the Vanguard:
Black Messiah
After nearly 15 years D’Angelo released his long-awaited new album Black Messiah on December 15. The album was originally slated to come out in 2015, but D’Angelo decided to rush the album’s release because of protests over the police killing of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. After the grand jury decision not to indict the cop Darren Wilson for the murder of Mike Brown, D’Angelo said, “The one way I do speak out is through music... I want to speak out.”
The Black Messiah album notes say in part: "For me, the title is about all of us. It’s about the world… It’s about people rising up in Ferguson and in Egypt and in Occupy Wall Street and in every place where a community has had enough and decides to make change happen. It’s not about praising one charismatic leader but celebrating thousands of them. Not every song is politically charged (though many are), but calling this album 'Black Messiah' creates a landscape where these songs can live to the fullest."
One of the tracks on the album, "1,000 Deaths," begins with a soundbite from "The Murder of Fred Hampton," a 1971 documentary about the Chicago Black Panther shot dead by the police. Another song, "The Charade," has this chorus: "All we wanted was a chance to talk / 'Stead we only got outlined in chalk / Feet have bled a million miles we've walked / Revealing at the end of the day, the charade."
J. Cole on David Letterman
"Be Free"
On December 10, J. Cole did a powerful and moving version of his song "Be Free" on the David Letterman show.
Samuel L. Jackson
Call To Action
Samuel L. Jackson challenges celebrities to sing the "We Ain't Gonna Stop Til People Are Free" song and call out the “violence of the racist police.”
Revolution Books NYC
December 5, 2014
An Evening of Performance & Art
Ferguson is Everywhere! It's Right to Rebel!
On December 5, 2014, at Revolution Books NYC, an evening of poetry, music, and visual art to support the growing movement against the murder by police of youth of color. The event featured poets Saul Williams, Jessica Care Moore, and Carl Hancock-Rux, with music by Daniel Bernard Roumain, and unannounced appearances by Daniel Watts, Vernon Reid, and Faith Ringgold. The evening opened with the band Outernational and the walls were decorated with the works of visual artists Dread Scott, Kyle Goen, Seth Tobocman, Jenny Polak, Mr. Fish, Amaris Modesto, and Danica Novgorodoff.
Ferguson Is Everywhere! from Revolution Books on Vimeo.
Outernational
"It Stops Today"
“This is a historic and important moment! People from all walks of life have been courageously taking to the streets and stopping business as usual in response to the non-indictments of the police who murdered Mike Brown and Eric Garner. As part of the #WeekOfOutrage to police murder, we wrote and recorded this new song, IT STOPS TODAY. "It stops today" was one of the last things Eric Garner told the NYPD before they choked him to death. This is a contribution to all the courageous fighters and dreamers out in the streets! Share this song everywhere!
Ferguson Is Everywhere.... It's Right to Rebel! Open mic at Revolution Books Los Angeles
Jerry Quickley “Police Brutality Fairy” with Norton Wisdom painting. Video by Visual Renegade
reg e gaines: "We were once slaves." Video by Visual Renegade
We Not Goin Back
Jamel Chapel
"We Not Goin Back" is a music video project written, shot, and edited by Jamel 'Jam No Peanut' Mims. @jamnopeanut
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