Protest Songs about Police

Protest Song
One protest song from the 1960s that stands out is Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddman.” It is a song about the racism in the South that was tearing the country apart in the 1960s. As an African American and friend of Malcolm X, Nina Simone was angry about what she saw and this song’s lyrics express that anger: “I can’t stand the pressure much longer,” she sings early in the song. Compared to another protest song from today called “No Justice No Peace” by Z-Ro from 2016, not much has changed. Z-Ro is another African American who is angry about police violence against blacks. His song, like Nina’s is about taking a stand and facing the racism straight on. This paper will compare and contrast three themes from these two songs.
The first theme that emerges in both is the racism against blacks. Nina Simone sings about blacks having to fight for their rights because of inequality. Z-Ro raps about blacks being assaulted by police because the police are racist. Both are singing about an unfair system, but Nina is describing the lengths to which blacks must go to protest for their rights: “Picket lines / School boycotts”. Z-Ro is rapping about the lengths to which police will go to oppress blacks, even using violence against them: “No justice, no peace
It's us against police / Every time I turn around they shoot another brother down in these cold, cold streets.”
The second theme that emerges is a sense of hopelessness: Nina sings: “Hound dogs on my trail / School children sitting in jail / Black cat cross my path / I think every day's gonna be my last.” The images that she brings to mind are of a criminal being hunted down and innocents being locked up. She is out of breath and does not think she will see tomorrow, the racism has gotten so bad. Z-Ro sings: “Shit, I can't even go where I wanna go / Cause I might not even make it to the corner store / Maybe we all gone get shot, I don't even know no mo' / They kill our kids, it seems like they don't get to grow no mo'”—the implication being that the very way of life for African Americans is threatened by the presence of violent police who are out to get them—not just to oppress them but to outright murder them now. The hopelessness is bad in Nina’s song, but it is even worse in Z-Ro’s.
The third theme that emerges is the demand for justice and equality. Nina sings: “All I want is equality / For my sister my brother my people and me.” She identifies the goal that the African Americans are struggling to achieve: it is equal rights. Z-Ro is rapping also for justice and equality, but the goal he has in mind is a bit different. He wants just to survive—and to survive he knows he needs to stand up and fight back: “I'ma protect me and my people / You must be a fool if you think I ain't dumping /
Mr Officer, crooked officer, they in Dallas trying to blow the badges off of ya.” Z-Ro knows it is no use even attempting to reason or protest: all that blacks today can do is fight back—fight dirty just like the cops do to them.
The two protests songs—Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddamn” and Z-Ro’s “No Justice No Peace”—are about issues of racism in America. They are separated by about half a century and yet both highlight the same themes—violence, injustice, disharmony, oppression. Nina sings in her song about the lengths to which blacks must go to earn respect from the white establishment. Z-Ro raps about how far the white establishment is willing to go to keep blacks from having normal lives: they cannot even walk to the corner store without fearing for their lives. Both songs address the same issues, but by the time it gets to Z-Ro, the urgency and state of alarm is even higher.
Appendix
“Mississippi Goddamn” by Nina Simone
The name of this tune is Mississippi goddam
And I mean every word of it
Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi goddam
Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi goddam
Can't you see it
Can't you feel it
It's all in the air
I can't stand the pressure much longer
Somebody say a prayer
Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi goddam
This is a show tune
But the show hasn't been written for it, yet
Hound dogs on my trail
School children sitting in jail
Black cat cross my path
I think every day's gonna be my last
Lord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I don't belong here
I don't belong there
I've even stopped believing in prayer
Don't tell me
I tell you
Me and my people just about due
I've been there so I know
They keep on saying 'Go slow!'
But that's just the trouble
'Do it slow'
Washing the windows
'Do it slow'
Picking the cotton
'Do it slow'
You're just plain rotten
'Do it slow'
You're too damn lazy
'Do it slow'
The thinking's crazy
'Do it slow'
Where am I going
What am I doing
I don't know
I don't know
Just try to do your very best
Stand up be counted with all the rest
For everybody knows about Mississippi goddam
I made you thought I was kiddin'
Picket lines
School boy cots
They try to say it's a communist plot
All I want is equality
For my sister my brother my people and me
Yes you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And you'd stop calling me Sister Sadie
Oh but this whole country is full of lies
You're all gonna die and die like flies
I don't trust you any more
You keep on saying 'Go slow!'
'Go slow!'
But that's just the trouble
'Do it slow'
Desegregation
'Do it slow'
Mass participation
'Do it slow'
Reunification
'Do it slow'
Do things gradually
'Do it slow'
But bring more tragedy
'Do it slow'
Why don't you see it
Why don't you feel it
I don't know
I don't know
You don't have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about Mississippi
Everybody knows about Alabama
Everybody knows about Mississippi goddam, that's it
Songwriters: Nina Simone
B
No Justice, No Peace by Z-Ro
No justice, no peace
It's us against police
Every time I turn around they shoot another brother down in these cold, cold streets
[Verse 1]
Shit, I can't even go where I wanna go
Cause I might not even make it to the corner store
Maybe we all gone get shot, I don't even know no mo'
They kill our kids, it seems like they don't get to grow no mo'
And every time I see them cruising in the hood 'bout to murder somebody
That's what they doing in the hood
Then they wonder why I'm strapped when I'm in there
The people protesting has proved the crooked done been there
Then they wonder why we like "fuck the law"
We ain't calling ya'll for shit cause we don't fuck with ya'll
Mr. Officer, crooked officer
It ain't enough for ya'll to keep all of us off of ya'll
[Hook]
No justice, no peace
It's us against police
Every time I turn around they shoot another brother down in these cold, cold streets
No justice, no peace
It's us against police
[Post-Hook]
I'd be damn if I don't ride, I promise I don't want to die
If I do R.I.P
To me
[Verse 2]
Oh, I'm tired of holding my hands up
Fuck that, they want me to sit down, but fuck that, I'ma stand up
Black men, Black women the time is now, come on everybody let's man up
Put our differences beside because we understand each other
They don't understand us
Am I next to get shot for selling CD's in front of my favorite neighborhood store
I'm not a rival gang, we getting shot at by cops
It ain't safe in the neighborhood no mo'
You just told me to reach for my wallet
So I reached for my wallet, now I'm dead
We ain't going to the J. Edgar Hoover building
Motherfucka' but we finna go fed
They kill us for sport, just like they hunting
Fuck, it feel like black life ain't nothing
Swear to god I'm so sick of this shit, I'ma protect me and my people
You must be a fool if you think I ain't dumping
Mr Officer, crooked officer, they in Dallas trying to blow the badges off of ya
[Hook]
No justice, no peace
It's us against police
Every time I turn around they shoot another brother down in these cold, cold streets
No justice, no peace
It's us against police
[Post-Hook]
I'd be damn if I don't ride, I promise I don't want to die
If I do R.I.P
To me