The Impact of Music of Protest

Music has long permeated sectors of American public and private life, both perpetuating and reacting to social, political, and economic ideology. Music of protest adapts to contemporary conditions, critiquing through contemporary genres. This study seeks to analyze the proliferation of protest music, from its early form before the civil rights era to the modern day. In conjunction with this genealogy of the art form, this study will analyze the subsequent impact of protest music on social and political movements, and vice versa. Particular attention is placed on the advent of the Internet, and particularly social media, in the 21st century to understand the current socio-political state. This study analyzes the confluence of protest music and socio-political movements through the lens of critical historical analysis to understand the how nuanced U.S. power dynamics manifest change.