Talk:Protest songs in the United States

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): CaseyBechtel. Peer reviewers: Azgordon, Austenpark.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 02:48, 18 January 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 30 August 2021 and 10 December 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): GK2000GK.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 02:48, 18 January 2022 (UTC)

John Lennon
why is John Lennon mentioned NOWHERE on this page??--169.139.175.4 (talk) 14:32, 4 November 2011 (UTC)

USA concept songs vs our injustice songs a.form of poinnting out
not signing anything its been my cross hidden in the dark 04:38, 15 February 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lee arango me (talk • contribs)

Constructive Criticism
This article does an excellent job of referring to complementary material (e.g. "idealism and equal rights" in the beginning of the 19th century discussion, "Anti-Flag and Bad Religion", in the more modern section, etc). This is something I want to focus on in my article, and this one provides a strong template for doing so.

In addition, the chronological structure makes good sense for this type of article. However, it might be beneficial to make sure that the content is evenly distributed across the different time periods. Certain periods seem to receive more content than others, perhaps too much.

The only other thing that stuck out to me was the lack of citations in many sections in the first half of the article. The sections on spirituals, Emily Dickinson, Lift Every Voice and Sing, etc. contain much useful information, but with no sources provided. The sections that follow are a good template for the content to citation balance. Finally, some statements seem to be evaluative ("perhaps the most famous", "Arguably one of the best known", "Her song was important for the movement", etc.) Try to avoid taking stances like this, or if you do, provide strong evidence with supporting citation.

Overall, very well-structured and informative article. Hopefully these minor suggestions make it that much better!

Austenpark (talk) 11:00, 11 March 2017 (UTC)

This can't be just a list of instances of protest songs
This can't be just a list of instances of protest songs. There are zillions of them. Which would leave it open to just being a soapbox / coatrack of selected songs that particular editors would like to highlight or give legs to. We need to cover them as a topic. Which means based on reliable sources that have digested and written about them. Including those that have withstood the test of time to remain notable. (BTW notable has a different meaning than than wp:notable)  North8000  (talk) 20:17, 29 July 2017 (UTC)

Proposed Revision for Lead Section
Hi I am currently a student. I rewrote the lead section of this article and am looking to make improvements throughout the entire article, where I can.

Protest songs in the United States are a tradition that dates back to the early 18th century and have both persisted and evolved as an aspect of American culture through the present day. Throughout its history, many American social movements have inspired an array of protest songs spanning a variety of musical genres including but not limited to rap, folk, rock, and pop music. Though early 18th century songs stemmed from the American colonial period as well as in response to the Revolutionary war, protest songs have and continue to cover a wide variety of subjects. Protest songs in general typically serve to address some social, political, or economic concern through the means of musical composition. In America, 19th century protest songs focused heavily on topics including slavery, poverty, and the Civil War among other subjects while the 20th century saw an increased popularity in songs pertaining to women's rights, economic injustice, and politics/ war. In the 21st century, popular protest songs like Childish Gambino's "This is America" and Kendrick Lamar's "Alright" address police brutality, racism, and more.

I found a few sources that will certainly help in further edits to this article:

Kaltmeier, Olaf, and Wilfried Raussert, eds. Sonic Politics: Music and Social Movements in the Americas. Routledge, 2019. Knupp, Ralph E. "A time for every purpose under heaven: Rhetorical dimensions of protest music." Southern Journal of Communication 46.4 (1981): 377-389. Street, John. "‘Fight the power’: The politics of music and the music of politics." Government and Opposition 38.1 (2003): 113-130. Weinstein, Deena. "Rock protest songs: so many and so few." The resisting muse: Popular music and social protest. Routledge, 2017. 3-16. GK2000GK (talk) 19:22, 16 November 2021 (UTC)GK2000GK