The History of Black Protest Songs - from Billie Holiday to Kendrick Lamar

These activities are perfect for Black History Month or anytime of the year in either a history or English classroom. Provided is a PowerPoint that can be shared with students to have on their own screens if you are a 1:1 technology classroom, or the teacher can project it large for the entire class. Students are provided with a brief introduction to the Black Lives Matter movement and terminology such as: Hands Up, Don't Shoot...Ferguson...Michael Brown...Tamir Rice...I can't breathe...and We shall overcome! The essential question for students is: How have black artists throughout the 20th century used music to speak about and protest racial inequality and injustice?

The murders of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and Eric Garner are then presented to students. A graphic organizer is provided in a bundle or sold separately for students to complete while researching - they are required to record 5-10 facts in each column while reading. Each case is explained, objective facts are provided, and then there are video links given to bring each victim to life.

The music portion of this unit begins with song We Shall Overcome - students are asked to consider why protesters chose not to sing this song in Ferguson. The clip provided introducing the Kendrick Lamar song Alright, CONTAINS PROFANITY - specifically the N word - so please be advised and you may want to get parent permission before showing this clip, or cut it out altogether and just analyze the edited lyric excerpt. Students will discuss what about the lyrics is appropriate for these protests, how they reference the death of Michael Brown in particular, and what about the lyrics may be deemed inappropriate. Students must decide whether this song will stand the test of time like others before it...now students are taken on historical journey of black protest songs...beginning with Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday. Next up is: Nina Simone's Mississippi Goddam, Aretha Franklin's Respect, James Brown's Say it Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud, Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton, and Public Enemy's Fight the Power.

The same graphic organizer used to record facts about the three murders will be used for the remainder of this assignment. Students will watch a short video clip of each song (click on the pictures to begin the videos), then analyze a lyric excerpt for authors purpose, tone, and meaning. They will then read through a bio provided and conduct further research on genius.com (already set and provided as links). Students will record all of their thoughts and analysis in the appropriate column of the chart. There is an ANSWER KEY provided with the purchase of the graphic organizer. Students must finally decide what the greatest similarities and differences are between Kendrick Lamar's song Alright and the others from history...will Alright stand the test of time as the others have?