American Cultural Bites: (R)evolution in US Popular Music – At the Buenavista Library

We continue the American Space Madrid project with the Public Library Network of the Madrid City Council: American Cultural Bites in its version for adults under the title of "(R)evolution in US Popular Music" on this occasion, focused on protest songs as an expression of civil rights movements.

In this series of meetings in English, we invite participants to listen to the sounds of the protest song of the XNUMXth and XNUMXst century in the United States. Each session will focus on a specific American social movement and the music inspired by it. Through moderator-led discussion and song analysis, we will explore how protest music has documented, stimulated, and anticipated social and political change in American culture.

This activity will be moderated by Karen Secret, art expert and teacher of the American Cultural Studies (ACS) courses of the International Institute.

It will be a cycle of 10 sessions with three municipal public libraries in the downtown area: the Mario Vargas Llosa Library, Buenavista and Eugenio Trías. There will be three alternating sessions in each library with a presentation session in the International Institute library.

An upper-intermediate or advanced level of English is recommended.

Ninth and penultimate session on “The musical revolution of Black Lives Matter”.

SONG 1 – Kendrick Lamar, “Alright” (2015)

VIDEO - https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=215&v=Z-48u_uWMHY

LYRICS - https://genius.com/Kendrick-lamar-alright-lyrics

SONG 2 – Beyoncé, “Formation” (2016)

VIDEO - https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=200&v=WDZJPJV__bQ

LYRICS - https://genius.com/Beyonce-formation-lyrics

As far as “Alright” and “Formation” are concerned, their videos are just as significant as the songs themselves. Thus, they mix the aesthetic and the political, not only to explore police violence, but also to approach the entire black experience in the United States.

Contact the Buenavista Public Library for registration (face-to-face).