Music. Art. Politics. They are meant to walk hand in hand

I remember sitting at work one day, a small quaint coffee shop where the love for oldies, rock n roll, and beyond always fill the shop. It was the end of day and this couple (regulars) walked in, a bi-racial couple from the south, the husband is white and the wife is black.
They tend to sit and chat for a while every time they come in and though they are overall very nice, the conversations are often filled with takes I’m not so fond of and I often try to figure out how to not to be avoidant while also still being how one should be at work – likable (within reason), not getting too deep into topics that could otherwise give a small mom and pop coffee shop a “bad name”, etc.
**Let me be clear, my boss knows my stances, understands where my beliefs lie and truthfully has no issues with that, but work is work and I often do my best to keep the peace while on the clock.**
Now let’s dig back into the music filling the air, the conversations about how our current puppets in office are “doing the right thing for this country”. The song “Gimme Shelter” comes on, Mick Jagger’s iconic voice and Mary Clayton’s unforgettable and haunting vocals that at the shook the world to its core, truly a war cry of the time, and every time I listen to it, I feel this deep feeling of grief, hope, and all the things that come along with revolution. As I’m sitting trying to navigate the topic of “immigration and how liberals are ruining this nation” and “why can’t we all get along, I truly don’t see color”, while I’m wearing a shirt made by an immigrant that is a dear friend, I then hear “what a great song, I miss when music wasn’t political”
It stopped me dead in my tracks. I almost laughed out loud as this statement came out of the mans mouth. Gimme Shelter..? Not…? POLITICAL?
A statement that truly is showing of the times we’re currently in. It made me realize just how far the brainwashing has come. No one listens to the music, no one reads the words, no one sits and stares at the art work on the wall. We have officially fallen into the machine (Pink Floyd anyone?), not just the consumers of the art but the producers of the art as well.
I can’t pinpoint when art and music stopped holding its power, but there was a time and I know I lived in it, mainly when MTV lost its purpose, trash TV was on the rise and people thought staying silent and pretty was far better than being heard. Let’s not get started on how the news has never been THE NEWS.

However I know damn well and fine, right now, the tides are changing.

Artists are no longer muting themselves for a pay out, they are rising far and wide. I hear the conversations swelling in spaces that used to be just banter of nothing worth writing home about.
I see artists donating their skills and their time for causes far greater than themselves, relief funds beginning because people are creating jazz nights and spoken word nights where proceeds are being donating to supporting our communities. I hear people proud of their heritage using their music to flood the airwaves with the sounds they grew up hearing. I beg we keep remembering that art, music, spoken word – it was all created as a form or protest, resistance, a fight for a better world. we are in times that are scary for.

I hope you always remember that everything that gives you the freedom to emote, express, find your way back to you, your roots, your community- always HAS been and always WILL be political and it is our time to make sure we see this through