{"id":98666,"date":"2022-02-09T15:29:32","date_gmt":"2022-02-09T14:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?p=98666"},"modified":"2022-02-09T19:04:11","modified_gmt":"2022-02-09T18:04:11","slug":"black-history-month-5-songs-for-5-activists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/black-history-month-5-songs-for-5-activists\/","title":{"rendered":"Black History Month: 5 songs for 5 activists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Marcus Garvey<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Marcus Garvey and what came to be known as Garveyism is one of the earliest pan-African intellectual pursuits. Born in Jamaica in 1887, Marcus Garvey was a ferocious political activist, business man, journalist and orator. Founder and president of the  Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League or UNIA, Garvey would spend his career publishing papers like Negro World<\/em>, making speeches and putting himself at the helm of a movement that argued to end colonial rule and unify the African diaspora. Though controversial and heavily criticized, there are few figures with such an impressive ambition, persuasive thought, and entrepreneurial spirit aimed at the elevating of Black peoples globally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No man has produced a more renowned tribute to Marcus Garvey than that of Burning Spear. He dedicated two albums to his name including Marcus Garvey<\/em> in 1975 and a dub version Garvey\u2019s Ghost<\/em> in 1976. Both are considered reggae masterpieces with a history of their own. The project is a calling card for deep roots reggae all stars including vocals from the Black Disciples, bassists Robbie Shakespeare and Aston Barrett, guitarists Earl “Chinna” Smith and Tony Chin, and drummer Leroy Wallace. Singer Burning Spear, a name co-opted from Jomo Kenyatta, the Mau Mau leader who later became the president of Kenya, was a devout Rastafari, historian and political activist. In the eponymous track \u201cMarcus Garvey\u201d, Burning Spear sets the prophetic tone, \u201cMarcus Garvey’s words come to pass\u201d finishing later by calling out \u201cBagga Wire\u201d a chauffeur who was said to have betrayed Garvey as an FBI informant that led to his eventual arrest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_9tj7kglZVM&ab_channel=BrunoGaillardo\n<\/div>
Burning Spear – Marcus Garvey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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All rights reserved<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Malcolm X<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little in 1925 Omaha, Nebraska, along with, though often in opposition to Dr. Martin Luther King, is one of the primary driving forces of the American Civil Rights Movement. Born to a Baptist preacher and activist mother, Malcolm\u2019s parents were staunch supporters of Marcus Garvey and the UNIA. Although it took Malcolm some time to find his political wing, instead finding himself in prison for larceny at the age of 20. It was there that Malcolm developed a voracious appetite for books and discovered the Nation of Islam. After developping a correspondance with Elijah Mohammed, the leader of the Nation of Islam, Malcolm worked his way up the hierarchy as a vocal proponent of Black determinism. Malcolm gained popularity as a counter-offensive to the oppression and abuse of Black people in America, unafraid to use self defense, bear arms, and confront the \u201cwhite devil\u201d. Later in life Malcolm became dissilussioned with the Nation of Islam, continuing to advocate for the Black community with a softer touch though no less surveillance from the FBI. Malcolm was tragically assassinated on February 19th, 1965. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Composed by Miriam Makeba<\/a> \u201cDo You Remember Malcolm\u201d is a fine ode to the life of Malcolm X by a singer who lived with the same dedication to a number of causes throughout her life, notably in her activism against apartheid. However, during her time in America, Makeba became close with the Black Power and Black militant movements that animated Malcolm X. Makeba spent her American years travelling with Henry Bellafonte to speak out against apartheid, raising money for Dr. King\u2019s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and entered into marriage with Trinidadian-American activist Stokely Carmichael who held a prominent role in the Black Panthers. In the single Makeba sings, \u201cBut for me in my heart Malcolm will live forever, Especially when I think about the blackness he reflected, I said especially when I think about all that he represented<\/em>.\u201d  These words resonate again in a speech she made that crystalized the two\u2019s mutual pan-African sensibility, \u201cAfricans who live everywhere should fight everywhere. The struggle is no different in South Africa, the streets of Chicago, Trinidad or Canada<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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