Synopses & Reviews
For people of African descent, music constitutes a unique domain of expression. From traditional West African drumming to South African kwaito, from spirituals to hip-hop, Black life and history has been dynamically displayed and contested through sound. Shana Redmond excavates the sonic histories of these communities through a genre emblematic of Black solidarity and citizenship: anthems. An interdisciplinary cultural history, Anthem reveals how this “sound franchise” contributed to the growth and mobilization of the modern, Black citizen. Providing new political frames and aesthetic articulations for protest organizations and activist-musicians, Redmond reveals the anthem as a crucial musical form following World War I. Beginning with the premise that an analysis of the composition, performance, and uses of Black anthems allows for a more complex reading of racial and political formations within the twentieth century, Redmond expands our understanding of how and why diaspora was a formative conceptual and political framework of modern Black identity. By tracing key compositions and performances around the world—from James Weldon Johnsons “Lift Evry Voice and Sing” that mobilized the NAACP to Nina Simones “To Be Young, Gifted & Black” which became the Black National Anthem of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)—Anthem develops a robust recording of Black social movements in the twentieth century that will forever alter the way you hear race and nation. Shana L. Redmond is Assistant Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. She is a former musician and labor organizer.
Review
"An extraordinary, innovative and generative book. Shana Redmond reveals how musical anthems served as powerful sources of inspiration and as crucial mechanisms for social mobilization in twentieth century Black freedom struggles around the world. She presents fascinating portraits of individual performer-activists including Paul Robeson, Miriam Makeba, and Nina Simone, while delineating the largely unknown social histories of significant songs such as "Lift Every Voice and Sing," "Old Man River," "We Shall Overcome," and "Nkosi Sikilel' iAfrika." More than any previous scholar, Redmond shows how musical practices and performances enabled people of African origin all around the world to establish themselves as an aggrieved and insurgent people struggling for freedom and justice."-George Lipsitz,author of How Racism Takes Place
Review
“Anthem is truly a tour de force. Deeply-researched, brilliantly conceived, and beautifully written, the book reveals how ‘anthems register both a collective sense of history and a vision of the future for aggrieved groups—not just people of African-descent. Anthem will stand as the model for transnational scholarship for years to come.”-Robin D. G. Kelley,author of Africa Speaks, America Answers: Modern Jazz in Revolutionary Times
Synopsis
An extraordinary, innovative, and generative book. George Lipsitz, author of How Racism Takes Place"
About the Author
Shana L. Redmond is Assistant Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. She is a former musician and labor organizer.