Music as a motivator for rebellion

[AdamG]

Placed here, as Art usually goes hand-in-hand with the Social Sciences.

I haven't seen this addressed anywhere here, even after some reasonable googling and yet I can remember discussing the potential impact with Dave D. 15 years ago.

The political and military chaos in Libya is about to enter its sixth month. As the rebels wage war against Muammar Gaddafi from their capital in Benghazi, and NATO air strikes continue to target his forces, subtler forms of protest that don't make headlines are sustaining the rebel cause.

Libyans are writing their own musical soundtrack to the war, expressing themselves in ways forbidden under the regime, and painting anti-Gaddafi murals and cartoons. These are important gestures of freedom in one of the Arab world's most totalitarian countries.

http://www.studio360.org/2011/jul/01...ck-revolution/

Since December, musicians have been responding to — and provoking — the protests in countries like Egypt and Tunisia, and much of the music being made about these movements is hip-hop. Some of these songs have played a direct role in popular uprisings, while others have helped galvanize international support. Songs are rapped in both English and Arabic, and international collaborations have helped to spread the music over the Internet, via Facebook and YouTube.

Hear Five Of The Best

http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2...he-arab-spring

In 2009, in response to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s first speech to the United Nations, a group of Libyan exiles created an organization called Khalas, which means “enough,” the goal, to bring awareness of the struggles again Libya’s dictatorial regime not only to other Libyans in the western world but to the English-speaking world at large. In the wake of revolution in Tunisia and Egypt and protests elsewhere in North Africa and the Middle East, the Khalas team recognized one surprising common thread in the voices of discontent, rap music. Across the region, rap artists were providing the soundtrack to protests in the street. Khalas has curated a mixtape of some of the best new protest music and is now hosting the mix on its website, Enoughgaddafi.com. Abdulla Darrat is one of the founders of Khalas.

http://www.onthemedia.org/2011/feb/1...ic/transcript/

See also
http://rebelfrequencies.blogspot.com...t-gaddafi.html

[selil]

I took an entire PhD course on Music and civil disobedience. US centric labor songs like "Joe Hill" by Robeson is a good example (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8Kxq9uFDes). Of course Robeson is an interesting figure. The interaction between populism and music is increasingly interesting as folk songs (contrary to commercial) have significant impact on political change.