The Black Experience | Songs of Freedom
From Jim Crow to Civil Rights | 1960-1964
“The 60’s saw Black American Artists forging their own distinct voices... more powerful than pleading.” ~ Alphonse McCullough
"Like Chuck D of Public Enemy once told me... at one point to speak your mind as a colored man or woman was to risk your life."
Protest Music in Black & White | Segregated and Unequal
"If America’s original sin is indeed slavery, then her most insurmountable byproduct of said sin is her inability to reckon with the resulting effects and long lasting trauma: the unconscionable treatment of the descendants of slaves in the annals of history through the following centuries leading to present day." ~ Alphonse McCullough
"The treatment of Black musical artists in the 20th Century, specifically the early to mid-1900s is a shameful part of that history. "Negro" or "Colored" musicians regularly faced segregation and violent environments wherever they performed. Those stories and their negative legacy have been treated largely as if they never happened. Researching these events required a deep dig into the horrifics of history." ~ Alphonse McCullough
In "Episode 2: Protest Music in Black & White, Part #1" we take a close look at this period, and the heinous acts committed against some of our most iconic figures recounted firsthand by those who witnessed and survived them.
Protest Music in Black & White | Segregated and Unequal E2
"What we now call 'protest music' had existed primarily as Folk music prior to the mid-60’s ... so it’s impossible to dive into Black Protest Music without taking a close look at it’s antecedent."
"Part of music’s past that cannot be ignored is the rampant segregation Colored artists regularly faced ... Violence was regularly threatened and [sometimes] inflicted on Black artists; even having your name atop the marquee couldn’t count towards exception to racism’s rule."
~ Alphonse McCullough