"NOW" Santiago Álvarez

Cuban filmmaker Santiago Álvarez utilizes American media images of the Civil Rights Movement in the US as a comment on US neocolonialism in Cuba. This video was released in 1965, after the Cuban revolution and in the context of the United States defining their "Democracy" brand in opposition to communism. Álvarez takes America's language describing the Civil Rights Movement and turns it back on itself. Music by Lena Horn, a singer, actress, Civil Rights activist, and artist of color.

"Hell you talmbout" Janelle Monáe

"This song is a vessel. It carries the unbearable anguish of millions. We recorded it to channel the pain, fear, and trauma caused by the ongoing slaughter of our brothers and sisters. We recorded it to challenge the indifference, disregard, and negligence of all who remain quiet about this issue. Silence is our enemy. Sound is our weapon. They say a question lives forever until it gets the answer it deserves... Won't you say their names?"
-Janelle Monáe

​The collective nature of Janelle Monáe's song, written in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, speaks to the power of song to rally and motivate communities toward collective action. In its call-and-response format, it is literally a call to action.

The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll and Trayvon Martin

On February 26th, 2012, George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin: an unarmed, 17-year-old African-American high school student. Martin’s death ignited a spark of change, and brought attention to the blatant prejudice and racial and social biases ingrained deeply within the justice system on a widespread scale with highly publicized media coverage—but Zimmerman still walked away from his crime scot-free. 

On February 9th, 1963, almost exactly 49 years earlier, William Zantzinger struck and killed Hattie Carroll: an unarmed, 51-year-old African-American barmaid. Bob Dylan penned a song about the crime, titled: “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,” and brought national attention to Zantzinger’s crime and light punishment with every performance of the song, especially as his popularity rose in the 1960’s.

The striking similarities of these two cases and the clearly static state of this country’s deeply racist and prejudiced roots, manifest themselves in the protest piece created by singer/songwriter Jonah Matranga, titled, “The Lonesome Death of Trayvon Martin.” Matranga used the melody of Dylan’s song and re-wrote the lyrics to reflect the Trayvon Martin murder, highlighting the profound injustice of these two deaths and circumstances, and also beginning a dialogue detailing how frustrating and mindless the lack of progress this country has seen in terms of eradicating hate crimes like these.

"Exiled Ndnz"  Pamela J. Peters

 "My vision of this project is to showcase an indigenous neorealist aesthetics that arises from the stories of Indigenous people and their understanding of how Relocation history is part of California’s history, and to also change the negative and inaccurate views of who we are as American Indians. I also hope that this project will help foster a better understanding of the differences, despite the cultural ties, that we as American Indian people have and offer an accurate portrayal of how Indian life and tribal identity are still sustained, even in an urban city like Los Angeles."​

TRACY CHAPMAN

Singer-songwriter, Tracy Chapman, is a multi-platinum, Grammy Award winning  musician who has never held back from singing out about racial injustices in the U.S. Her first album, Tracy Chapman, was released when she was only twenty-four years old, in 1988. The album included three tracks that have given rise to this project, "Talkin' Bout A Revolution," "Across the Lines" and "Behind the Wall."