It also highlights how Dylan fit into the Civil Rights movement.
(For those unfamiliar with Jackson’s story, Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson is a must-read.) As far as Dylan’s recounting goes, it’s about as visceral as a man-and-his-guitar performance gets. “Sticks and stones and kerosene / coke bottles filled with gasoline / bricks and bats and bicycle chains / with tools like these, what could you possibly hope to gain?”Īnother jewel is the out-of-print Bob Dylan single “George Jackson,” recorded only days after the eponymous political prisoner was mudered by a guard at California’s Soledad Prison in 1970.
The group’s Shabazz brothers put forth a message of non-violent revolt, asking listeners to consider their tactics. The Kansas City group epitomizes the subversive lyricism that caught the ears of those on both sides of the color line. The record opens with the Shahid Quintet’s “Invitation to Black Power (Parts 1 & 2). Some of these recordings have never been released on CD before, while others recall obscure samples from the golden-era of hip-hop whose origins may have been mysteries to many listeners until now. Along the way he “befriended key leaders of the seminal Black Power Movement, dug through Huey Newton’s archives at Stanford University, spent countless hours and thousands of dollars on eBay, and talked to rank and file Black Panther Party members, uncovering dozens of obscure albums, singles, and stray tapes.” The effort was not in vain. On the contrary, archivist Pat Thomas painstakingly assembled the pieces of this puzzle. This is far from a slapdash collection of well-known protest songs. Somewhere along the way, things done changed. Musically, the album recalls a time when some of the most radical, intelligent and courageous musicians and activists in the country were elevated to iconic status in popular culture. Politically, Listen Whitey! The Sounds of Black Power is a powerful reminder of our ugly and not-so-distant past but also that the American Civil Rights movement was one that relied on a multitude of crucial figures, not just the names that get bandied about every February.
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