Dr. Bruce Campbell, Jr., associate professor of Education, and John Stuetz ’19M, Education Literacy Studies graduate student, presented their workshop “Power to the People: Rediscovering Music’s Impact on Social Justice Movements” at the 8th annual Education for Social Justice Conference in Boston on April 7.

The goal of the “Power to the People” workshop was to facilitate a dialogue and share strategies on how educators, students, and aspiring musicians alike can understand and rediscover social justice-oriented records of the past, as well as be empowered by the lesser-heard liberation records of the present.

The workshop was inspired by the concert James Brown performed in Boston that many believed saved the city from violent protests the day following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. Brown, with Nina Simone, the Impressions and more, sang of the honest struggle of living amid racial inequality. In the decades since the Civil Rights Movement, songs highlighting racial injustices have become less common, which has led to barriers to conscious music for both youth and adults.