Fight Songs-The Influence of Black Women Musicians on Protest Anthems

Music is often the profoundest reflection of the times. Politically oriented songs have been sung since the emergence of key and note. Black female musicians especially have amplified countless socio-political movements through the sheer power of the pen and the voice. Despite the drawbacks of marginalization, the following artists have engraved their mark on the music industry and the world at large. 

Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” 

At the ripe age of 23, the eclectic and bisexual Billie Holiday released the provocative best-selling record of her career - “Strange Fruit.” 

Southern trees bear a strange fruit/Blood on the leaves and blood at the root/Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze

Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddam”

Black classical musician Nina Simone, bornEunice Kathleen Waymon, could’ve led a masterclass in mobilizing music for the advancement of Black Americans. Through her acclaimed piece “Mississippi Goddam,” she virtually did. June 12th, 1963 marks the day soldier and civil rights activist Medgar Evers was fatally shot in Jacksonville, Mississippi. Shortly afterwards on September 15th, 1963, four Black girls were executed by a white supremacist attack on 16th street Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama. Dissuaded by her then husband Andy Stroud from becoming militant, Simone took to the streets with music in tow. “It erupted out of me quicker than I could write it down,” she remarked of the groundbreaking song. 

Alabama’s gotten me so upset // Tennessee made me lose my rest // And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam

Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” 

The undeniable “Queen of Soul” and activist debuted her rendition of Otis Redding’s “Respect” in April of 1967 with a newfound spirit. Within weeks of its release, the record rose to #1 on Billboard charts where it remained for weeks. While the original recording possessed a “masculine appeal” that cosigned the traditional family structure, Franklin took it for a 180 turn - transforming the song into a rallying cry for Black and women’s liberation alike. 

(oo) All I'm askin'/(oo) Is for a little respect when you come home (just a little bit)/Hey baby (just a little bit) when you get home/(Just a little bit) mister (just a little bit)

Miriam Makeba’s “Soweto Blues” 

A songstress, actress, and civil rights advocate, Miriam Makeba was the embodiment of “multi-hyphenate.” Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Makeba quickly arose as an outspoken voice against the growing white supremacy within her country of origin. Ultimately in 1960, the then European controlled South African government exiled the musician - citing her opposition to apartheid. In 1977, Makeba released her poignant record “Soweto Blues” alongside composer Hugh Masekela’s album ‘You Told Your Mama Not to Worry.’ The lyrics, sung in her lyrical spoken word tone, are an ode to the Soweto (a township in South Africa) uprisings led by Black school children which later resulted in a devastating massacre. 

A handful got away, but all the others/Are in the jail without any publicity/Just a little atrocity/Deep in the city