The Definition Of Protest Music: What Is Protest Music?

There is no definite definition of American music. American music is a mixture of distinct sounds and has numerous different genres. This is because the music reflects America’s diverse multi-cultural and multi-ethnic society. One of the many genres represented in American music, is protest music. Protest music are songs that are “associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs or songs connected to current events” (The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music, 1996). Bill Malone states that protest music is “a distinctive genre, as it has never been absent from American music” (Malone, 2008, p. 101). The history of protest music dates to the 18th century, around the time of the American Revolutionary War. Protest music makes a reoccurring appearance in the 19th century, as the songs includes topics concerning slavery, abolition and the Civil War. Protest music has in past and in the present time has been “the source of anthems for anyone concerned with social justice” (Malone, 2008, p. 101).
One protest song that is a prime example of American music and is revered as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important” (Sheryl Cannady, 2007), is Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come.” The artist, Samuel Cooke, was born on January 22nd in 1931. Cooke was an American gospel and soul singer and songwriter, who was also commonly known as the ‘King of Soul.’ Cooke both wrote and performed the song “A Change is Gonna Come,” as the