# Political/Protest songs of the 60s by nonwhite artists **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 13, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-protest-songs-of-the-60s-by-nonwhite-artists/759861 "2016-07-13T23:31:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-protest-songs-of-the-60s-by-nonwhite-artists/759861/1 "2016-07-13T23:31:11Z")
I realized a while back that while I could name quite a few pointedly political songs by white artists of the Vietnam/Civil Rights era, I could only name two by nonwhite artists - What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye and Mississippi Goddamn by Nina Simone. Can anyone point me at some more? I know they must be out there, but I can’t think of any until the NWA era - but then I’m a gen-x white girl, so I probably wasn’t exposed to it. ETA: Strange Fruit is before the time I’m thinking of, but it’s a good one. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-protest-songs-of-the-60s-by-nonwhite-artists/759861/2 "2016-07-13T23:40:43Z")
Freedom by Ritchie Havens ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-protest-songs-of-the-60s-by-nonwhite-artists/759861/3 "2016-07-13T23:41:40Z")
Gil Scott-Heron did a lot of protest songs. such as [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtBy_ppG4hY) ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-protest-songs-of-the-60s-by-nonwhite-artists/759861/4 "2016-07-13T23:42:19Z")
Sam Cooke - [A Change is Gonna Come](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Change_Is_Gonna_Come) Otis Redding’s version is perhaps a bit more to my taste, stylistically, but he diluted the lyrics to be less political and more spiritual. Cooke’s version is the more important. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-protest-songs-of-the-60s-by-nonwhite-artists/759861/5 "2016-07-13T23:48:45Z")
[War (What is it Good For)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpWmlRNfLck) by Edwin Starr, 1969 (written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong). [Machine Gun,](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xmxqvx_band-of-gypsys-machine-gun-fillmore-east-nyc-january-1st-1970_music) by Jimi Hendrix, 1969. > [@](#): > > Evil man make me kill you > Evil man make you kill me > Evil man make me kill you > Even though we’re only families apart > > Well I pick up my axe and fight like a farmer > You know what I mean? > Hey, and your bullets keep knocking me down > Hey, I pick up my axe and fight like a farmer now > Yeah, but you still blast me down, to the ground ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-protest-songs-of-the-60s-by-nonwhite-artists/759861/6 "2016-07-13T23:52:05Z")
since I know somebody will bring it up. Scott-Heron first put out an album in 1970. But he had lots of protest songs. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-protest-songs-of-the-60s-by-nonwhite-artists/759861/7 "2016-07-14T00:17:34Z")
I assume we’re not strictly limited to the 60s, but also early 70s are allowable. [Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World is Today)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb8JZ5wQGKI) by the Temptations, 1970. [I Don’t Want to Go to Vietnam](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGjlih95GMQ), by John Lee Hooker, 1968. [Vietnam,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtqIblBeDXw) Jimmy Cliff, 1970. [People Get Ready,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l04yM7-BWbg) by the Impressions, 1965; covered by many others. [Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VRSAVDlpDI), James Brown, 1968. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-protest-songs-of-the-60s-by-nonwhite-artists/759861/8 "2016-07-14T00:36:24Z")
Two Stevie Wonder songs from the early 70s just off the top of my head: You Haven’t Done Nothin’ Living for the City ---
**Author:** ![lew\_cody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@lew\_cody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lew_cody)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-protest-songs-of-the-60s-by-nonwhite-artists/759861/9 "2016-07-14T00:39:33Z")
A couple from 1971: “Bring the Boys Home” by Freda Payne “Women’s Love Rights” by Laura Lee ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-protest-songs-of-the-60s-by-nonwhite-artists/759861/10 "2016-07-14T01:21:26Z")
One of the premier protest folkies was Buffy Sainte-Marie, a Native Canadian. She recorded this [protest anthem way back in 1964.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYEsFQ_gt7c) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-protest-songs-of-the-60s-by-nonwhite-artists/759861/11 "2016-07-14T03:56:09Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > … I can’t think of any until the NWA era - but then I’m a gen-x white girl, so I probably wasn’t exposed to it. Although it’s post-60s, I would mention that reggae first became well-known outside Jamaica in the 1970s. Many of the songs of Bob Marley and others are of course highly political (_Small Axe, Burnin’ and Lootin’,_ _Guiltiness_, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-protest-songs-of-the-60s-by-nonwhite-artists/759861/12 "2016-07-14T04:05:58Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Two Stevie Wonder songs from the early 70s just off the top of my head: > You Haven’t Done Nothin’ > Living for the City As well as Big Brother and also shading into a lot of things he did like Heaven is 10 Zillion… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-protest-songs-of-the-60s-by-nonwhite-artists/759861/13 "2016-07-14T04:27:13Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Freedom by Ritchie Havens Also [Handsome Johnny.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdatQO9XBMQ) [The Staple Singers](https://rockhall.com/inductees/the-staple-singers/bio/)had a number of songs in the 1960s such as [Freedom Highway](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7_b_jyRVRc&index=4&list=RDc9Kl2kLJgew) (1965) but reached their greatest success in the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-protest-songs-of-the-60s-by-nonwhite-artists/759861/14 "2016-07-14T06:20:31Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I[People Get Ready,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l04yM7-BWbg) by the Impressions, 1965; covered by many others. From the Impressions I would cite “Choice of Colors” and “Mighty Mighty (Spade and Whitey)” from 1969. And of course Curtis Mayfield went on to do some _really_ pointed stuff as a solo artist in the '70s. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-protest-songs-of-the-60s-by-nonwhite-artists/759861/15 "2016-07-14T10:50:48Z")
This may not really count as the band included two white members, but in the UK the Equals had the rather upbeat song about police violence [Police on my Back](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXJxYNUoJKs) in 1965. The band footage is neat, but the staged scenes are fairly bizarre. Their lead singer was Eddy Grant, who went on to have several big hits, including Living on the Front Line in the late 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-protest-songs-of-the-60s-by-nonwhite-artists/759861/16 "2016-07-14T14:22:58Z")
Love these! Listening to them as I can - keep 'em coming. I was totally blown away by the Temptations’ Ball of Confusion. I was only familiar with the 1985 Love & Rockets version, which got pretty heavy airplay here, somehow without ever mentioning that it was a cover. Gee, wonder how that happened… ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-protest-songs-of-the-60s-by-nonwhite-artists/759861/17 "2016-07-14T15:28:39Z")
[Greetings (This is Uncle Sam)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edoqCg5izr8) - The Monitors I like the added touch of hearing soldiers marching at the end.