Episode 3:

Soundscapes of Protest: Music in Social Movements Across Africa

Art and culture often intersect with politics and music has been a potent instrument of social movements. In this episode, we explore recent historical and contemporary examples of protest music throughout Africa as musicians and communities turned their creative talents towards anticolonial, antiapartheid, and anti-corruption campaigns.

Guest Bios

Bode Omojola

Bode Omojola is the Five College Professor of Music. Professor Omojola’s teaching and research in ethnomusicology focuses on Nigerian music, with emphasis on West African, Nigerian, and Yorùbá traditions. Omojola is the author of Yorùbá Music in the Twentieth Century: Identity, Agency, and Performance Practice; Popular Music in Western Nigeria: Theme, Style, and Patronage System; The Music of Fela Sowande: Encounters, African Identity, and Creative Ethnomusicology; and Nigerian Art Music: with an Introductory Study of Ghanaian Art Music.

Nathaniel Braddock

Nathaniel Braddock is a musician, composer, and teacher. Braddock performs solo fingerstyle guitar and collaborates with Ghanaian, Zambian, Congolese musicians in numerous soukous, highlife, and jazz groups. Braddock has taught at the Passim School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the Old Town School of Folk Music and the Waldorf School in Chicago, Illinois.

Free Resources and Featured Books

Whether you’re new to teaching Africa, or just looking for new material to spice up your existing curricula, check out these free online resources for educators!

Episode Acknowledgements

Thanks to Bode Omojola and Nathaniel Braddock for sharing their expertise in this episode.

Thanks to Nico Rivers for audio editing, mixing, and mastering.

Special thanks to the Boston University Africa Studies Center and the Teaching Africa Outreach Program for collaborating and providing support for this podcast.

Image Credits

Photo of Bode Omojola provided by the University of Massachusetts Amherst website.

fela kuti” by Patsy M_, under Creative Commons License Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0). This image has been adapted from the original by Nico Rivers.

Featured Music