Songs are a type of narrative and songs have helped to carry narratives into the public discourse of protest. Are songs still important to protest movements? Music has played a central role in the US protest movements for centuries but not recently. In what has become an unusual occurrence, the artist Prince released a new song, "Baltimore," in the aftermath of the death of Freddie Gray. In the early days of the Baltimore protest, music had a muted role but was used much more often and more strategically in response to the later violence. Street festivals, drum circles, the music of James Brown and pastors walking hand in hand, singing “This little Light of Mine” were all used to calm the crowds and to help create social cohesion. Has the role of music changed in the present protest culture? Participants will discuss the roles of music in protest culture and narratives and the ways in which music can be used as strategy to create, fuel, or transform narratives. Panelists include Barry Pearson, English and Ethnomusicology, UMD; La Marr Jurelle Bruce, American Studies, UMD; and Navasha Daya, CoFounder, Youth Resiliency Institute, Singer and Songwriter with jazz group Fertile Ground.

This event is free and open to the public.

The Baltimore Stories project has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and is a collaboration between the University of Maryland, Maryland Humanities, the University of Maryland Baltimore County, Enoch Pratt Free Library and the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance.

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