Projects tagged "Music & Sound"

Pussy Riot Bring Their Music and Activism To Montreal
Practitioner:
Pussy Riot
Date:
Nov 1 2023
Pussy Riot are spreading their protests and activism beyond Russia. Away from Vladimir Putin’s censorship, they’re bringing their voices to Canada – a place where their message of resistance is resonating. On Nov. 1, as a chilling cold filled the streets of Montreal, Pussy Riot kicked off the North American leg of their Riot Days tour with a sold out show at the Rialto Theatre. The tension in the room was palpable.
Stop the Hatred
Practitioner:
Mc Jin and Wyclef Jean
Date:
May 21 2021
On March 21, just days after eight people, including six women of Asian descent, were killed in the Atlanta-area shootings, thousands gathered at Columbus Park in Manhattan for a rally against anti-Asian violence. Activists took turns addressing the surge in hate crimes and hate incidents toward the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, when an 8-year-old stepped onto the stage. “Stop the hatred!” Chance yelled into the mic.
The Standing March as silent protest
Practitioner:
JR & Darren Aronofsky
Date:
Nov 29 2015
Renowned French artist JR and Oscar-nominated American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky have collaborated on The Standing March, a major public artwork exhibited in Paris during the UN’s COP21 climate conference. The video projection will remind leaders that the world is watching as they gather to negotiate a deal aimed at keeping global warming below 2°C.
Why Is Iran’s Regime So Afraid of This Song?
Practitioner:
Shervin Hajipour
Date:
Sep 27 2022
“Baraye,” the anthem of Iran’s “Woman, Life, Liberty” protest movement—a song woven together entirely from a Twitter hashtag trend in which Iranians express their investment in the current protests—continues to unite Iranians in their opposition to the Islamic Republic several weeks after it was first released online.
Montreal's 'casseroles' cook up a storm over Quebec's anti-protest law
Practitioner:
Casseroles
Date:
May 18 2012
"Every night, at 8pm, during 15 minutes, take a casserole or any object that makes some noise and bang it with all the wrath that Bill 78 inspires you!" Citizens in Quebec adopted 'cacerolazo,' a form of popular protest which consists of a group of people making noise by banging pots, pans, and other utensils in order to call for attention.
Thriller Protest
Practitioner:
Chilean students
Date:
Jun 24 2011
The following is a description of the action that Huffington post published online on 6/25/2011: "Student demonstrators took to the streets of Santiago dressed as goblins and ghouls from Michael Jackson’s 'Thriller' video in their latest spirited pursuit of higher education reforms."
Thrive Collective
Practitioner:
Jeremy R. Del Rio, Esq
Date:
Jan 1 2011
Thrive Collective mobilizes students, parents, artists, and community stakeholders to partner with public schools for transformational change. They function both as a matchmaker and direct service provider of arts and mentoring programs that cultivate the character and competencies necessary for students to thrive in today’s world.
Riot grrrl MANIFESTO
Practitioner:
Riot grrrl bands
Date:
Apr 27 1991
Riot grrrl is a feminist punk rock movement started in the early 90's, particularly in Washington DC, Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. Bands that follow the movement include Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Jack Off Jill, Bratmobile, Adickdid, The Butchies, Heavens to Betsy, Huggy Bear, Bangs, and Calamity Jane, amongst others.
Chance the Rapper Hosts Open Mic Night
Practitioner:
Chance the Rapper
Date:
Feb 1 2015
Before Chance the Rapper performed at sold-out concert venues, he practiced his rhymes in front of an intimate crowd of roughly a dozen people at Harold Washington Library. Now the rapper is trying to return the favor, one open mic at a time.
Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ Is Still Revolutionary
Practitioner:
Lady Gaga
Date:
Feb 11 2021
Lady Gaga said something interesting about her song “Born This Way” during a March 2011 interview at Google headquarters. “What's so funny [is] when I put that song out, everybody was like, ‘Oh, the lyrics are so literal,’ and I'm like, ‘Yeah,’” she shared, almost with a fuck-you cadence. She wasn't angry—but you could tell how important the track was to her, and how she didn't want its message muddled.
Xiuhtezcatl
Practitioner:
Xiuhtezcatl Martinez
Date:
Aug 15 2017
The new wave of hip-hop has arisen a woke generation. From it, Xiuhtezcatl — seventeen-year-old Indigenous rapper and activist — has emerged, stirring the comatose with his music. From performing at the Standing Rock encampment with Immortal Technique and Nahko to leading the Youth v. Gov. lawsuit against the Federal Government, Xiuhtezcatl’s actions show his music is more than words.
Not Your Honor
Practitioner:
ABAAD
Date:
Dec 4 2019
To honor their battle, Lebanese women's rights organization ABAAD launched a powerful song and music video titled Not Your Honor. The clip was launched on the occasion of the "16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence" initiative which took off on Nov. 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
Journal Rappé
Practitioner:
Xuman & Cheikh “Keyti” Sene
Date:
Jan 1 2015
A TYPICAL EPISODE of Journal Rappé begins with Senegalese rapper Makhtar “Xuman” Fall dressed in a suit and seated behind a news desk. At first glance, the show looks like an ordinary newscast. But then Xuman (pronounced human) launches into his intro, rapping in French instead of talking. “Welcome! Make yourself comfortable. These are the news for you. Some good ones and bad ones too. But they’re all news for you.”
The Universe in Verse
Practitioner:
Maria Popova, Brain Pickings Community, Artists, writers, scientists, and musicians
Date:
Apr 28 2018
“The real wealth of the Nation,” marine biologist and author Rachel Carson wrote in her courageous 1953 protest letter, “lies in the resources of the earth — soil, water, forests, minerals, and wildlife… Their administration is not properly, and cannot be, a matter of politics.” Carson’s legacy inspired the creation of Earth Day and the founding of the Environmental Protection Agency, whose hard-won environmental regulations are now being undone in the
A Piece of Red Cloth - Rock n' Roll Performed in 1989
Practitioner:
Cui Jian
Date:
Jun 19 1989
“I performed at Tiananmen Square in 1989, 15 days before the crackdown. I sang A Piece of Red Cloth (一块红布), a tune about alienation. I covered my eyes with a red cloth to symbolize my feelings. The students were heroes. They needed me, and I needed them. After Tiananmen, however, authorities banned concerts. We performed instead at “parties,” unofficial shows in hotels and restaurants”.
Singing Disrupts Oil Auction
Practitioner:
Feminist Economics
Date:
Feb 22 2016
Utah environmentalists infiltrated a federal oil-and-gas lease auction and refused to stop singing until they were escorted out.
The Rage Against the Machine Performance That Got Them Banned From 'SNL'
Practitioner:
Rage Against the Machine
Date:
Apr 13 1996
Rage Against the Machine have always been rabble rousers, but the political statement that got them banned from Saturday Night Live sounds positively prosaic compared to other acts of protest they committed in their heyday, like shutting down the New York Stock Exchange or sporting a "Free Mumia Abu-Jamal" shirt on live television.
Movimento Vem Pra Rua (Come to the Streets)
Practitioner:
Rogério Chequer / People in Brazil
Date:
Dec 1 2014
Vem Pra Rua is a nonpartisan, democratic, and pluralist movement that emerged in response to society’s fight for a better Brazil. Brazilians of all regions, social classes, and ages began mobilizing at the end of 2014—building on the 2013 marches that protested corruption, inequality, and other socio-economic and political problems.
Eco-Music Big Band
Practitioner:
Eco-Music Big Band, Fred Ho, Marie Incontrera
Date:
Jan 3 2015
"Writing Political Music in Today's World" I began studying composition with Fred Ho without knowing quite what I was getting myself into. I was 25 with a fresh graduate degree in composition under my belt, lost in that special way only millennial twenty-somethings get to be. I knew I wanted to write political works and, having met Fred twice before, I knew that he was the one who could help me do it.
Soviet Disco
Practitioner:
Soviet Union
Date:
Jan 1 1977
The origin of the Soviet disco tradition, one that lasts to this day in the DJ-laden nightlife of Moscow and St. Petersburg, lay in the Stalinist era. Western culture – modernism, cubism, rock and roll, all that good stuff – was “decadent,” perhaps even a plot by Trotskyists or the Western intelligentsia to dull the steely nerves of the Soviet people. But dancing – this was a-OK.
APEC World Leaders Dinner Gets Occupied
Practitioner:
The Yes Men
Date:
Nov 13 2011
A change in the programmed entertainment at last night's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gala left a few world leaders slack-jawed, though most seemed not to notice that anything was amiss.
Scheiß AfD Jodler (Shit AfD Yodellers)
Practitioner:
Corner Chor
Date:
Jul 21 2025
"A live interview with the leader of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland was interrupted by protesters. During the live television interview with ARD, Alice Weidel, co-leader of AfD, appeared at times to struggle to hear the questions being asked of her as protesters gathered below the provisional stage for the interview in Berlin.
Butterflies for Bealtaine
Practitioner:
Amelia Caulfield, Sinead Cullen & Margaret Organ
Date:
May 1 2020
*We would like to thank everyone who who participated in a very successful first Butterflies for Bealtaine* For the month of May, we invited all ages to creatively respond to the theme of The Butterfly and to share a change they wish for on a personal, community or global level. In Ireland as in many parts of the world we have been in a quarantine situation because of the global pandemic. This environment informed our project.
2020 Was the Year of Protest Music
Practitioner:
Ambrose Akinmusire
Date:
Apr 1 2020
2020 was the year of when protest music blared everywhere. For a long period, Black people struggled against police brutality and in the uproar of George Floyd's murder, BLM protests instantly swept over the country. Of the many protest music that was released that year, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire wrote a song that would spearhead raging sentiments towards racial injustice beyond just jazz.
Rebel Music: Native America
Practitioner:
Frank Waln
Date:
May 26 2013
Frank Waln, a 25 year old Native American hip hop artist, tours the country and Canada performing and teaching motivational workshops to students across the country. He took to rap at a young age when he found a cd (Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP) on the side of the road. Growing up on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation of South Dakota, he realized that the hip hop music genre was an outlet for expressing pain and frustration.

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