Let’s demand the return of music for the people by the people.read more

"There's never been a successful progressive, radical, or revolutionary movement in this country that hasn't had a great soundtrack."read more

"The difference between human beings and animals is not an opposable thumb," says the musician and activist. "It's the fact that we create and consume art."read more

“Take A Stand” isn’t just a song, it’s a mission: the creation of a distribution network and broadcast platform for the music of our international movement.read more

Morello also understood the power of more than 100,000 people in the streets, and said the radical potential was frightening even to some of labor’s allies.read more

“If I can’t sing, there’s a slight disappointment,” says one protester. “It’s very empowering. I look in people’s eyes and see that I am not alone in my passion.”read more

It was 40 years ago this month that Marvin Gaye’s legendary album, “What’s Going On,” was released. The album, now considered a masterpiece of music and social commentary, remains all-too relevant today.read more

Perched among San Francisco skyscrapers Mandeep Sethi guides us through this dreamscape of a song. A meditation on the mechanics of assimilation and cultural imperialism, "Where Do We Go From Here?" deftly interrogates without losing its soul. Sethi, a member of the Universal Zulu Nation, recently returned from India, where he participated in and documented the burgeoning Indian hip hop movement. Sethi's newest album, Poor People's Planet is a musical exploration of the ravages of neoliberal globalization on the people of the Global South, and their everyday resistance against it.read more

Salman Ahmad spreads a message of love and coexistence.read more

This week's piece, "32 flavors" comes from Ani DiFranco, the iconic feminist DIY singer-songwriter and independent record label founder. DiFranco's work embodies the phrase "the personal is political", viewing politics not only in structures and systems, but in every facet of her lived experience. read more

He was more than a brash balladeer. He was an engaged citizen and artist concerned about the human condition.read more

While one month is certainly not enough to celebrate and honor Black History, we can still take this month as an opportunity to do what we should be doing every month, namely give the proper respect and attention to the past, present, and future history of Black people in a country where Black histories (like Black people) have been deemed inferior. Much of contemporary spoken word is based in Black oral tradition and music, reaching through the blues, the Black Arts movement, and hip hop culture (to name only a few precursors).read more

I am listening to the song "Million Man March" released last year by UK musicians Lowkey and Mai Khalil as the eyes of the world are on Egypt, where the people of the world's largest Arab country are rising up against a military dictatorship which receives $1.3 billion of U.S. foreign aid (second only to Israel). Egyptians are suffering from widespread poverty and unemployment and 30 years of violent repression by the regime of Hosni Mubarak.read more

As the time since Martin Luther King Jr.'s death grows, so too does the dissonance between the dream of the civil rights movement and the reality of what we as a nation have become. What Dr. King called the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism have become even more powerful, while our society's will to confront them has been significantly eroded. In a time where hope is losing its audacity, our ability to imagine a more just world becomes ever more imperative.read more

I’ve always been troubled, oddly, by the “war is over” chorus, not because I disagree with his peaceful sentiments but because I distrust the simplistic conclusion that war can be over “if we want it.”read more