Music of Protest

Popular Southern folk singer and autodidact guitarist, Matteo Salvatore’s pastoral hell themes weren’t observed from a privileged distance. He hailed from a very poor family that begged and stole vegetables in Puglia, where the Latifondisti exploited landless peasants. These […]

As an organization and as an arts, culture and politics magazine, we strongly endorse the statement below from No One Is Illegal: Déclaration communautaire : « Ensemble contre la Charte xénophobe » [English below] Nous nous opposons à la Charte […]

Neuroscientists, evolutionary biologists, and basically anyone with an opinion still throw out many theories as to why it is that music actually exists. Some claim music’s evolution has a kinship with the evolution of language, and others say music is […]

Montreal Serai requested a list of films that Productions Multi-Monde has produced on the topic music of protest. Below are some of these films. At the turn of the millennium, our team here at Productions Multi-Monde started to […]

“On ne parlera jamais assez de l’Afrique. De cette Afrique qui mange ses propres entrailles. Partout où point l’espoir, des coups de canon explosent, des chars prennent les corps humains pour du macadam. L’Afrique tue l’Afrique, entrouvre ainsi la porte […]

The Chinese in Toronto from 1878: From Outside to Inside the Circle By Arlene Chan Dundurn Natural Heritage. Toronto: 2011 Arlene Chan’s book is a historic gem chronicling the remarkable journey of Chinese Canadians, and their success in moving from […]

Norman Nawrocki … a Montreal legend for his music of protest – and for his daring, insurrectionary performance theatre — was interviewed for this issue by Rana Bose, Serai Editor and Montreal novelist. Norman’s new book details : Cazzarola!: Anarchy, […]

The word rebellion derives from the Latin rebellare, which means, literally, to restart warring. This suggests that it is a continuous state, something that is about remembering the struggle and what causes are worth fighting for. And then there’s the […]

In the 1960s, for at least a brief moment, Montreal became what seemed an unlikely centre of Black Power and the Caribbean left. In October 1968 the Congress of Black Writers at McGill University brought together well-known Black thinkers and […]

Bloomsbury, New York: 2013 Jaspreet Singh’s new novel, Helium, is about Raj Kumar, a scientist with a doctorate in Chemistry from Cornell University and an undergraduate degree in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. After an absence […]

Surojit Chatterjee came to Chicoutimi-Saguenay to celebrate the 20th year of existence of Mosaïque (a percussion and vocal band specialising in intercultural explorations).  The public in Sagueany discovered his immense talent as a musician and singer; they also discovered his […]

In a country where Opera was invented, it is no wonder that love songs seem to be omnipresent and over-represented. On the flipside, amorous passions lead to political ones. The bulk of these protest songs about rebellion do indeed date […]

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/spirodon/piano-in-the-atmosph-re[/soundcloud] Playing piano has been central to my involvement in social movements over the past decade. Although building melodies and improvisations on the keys can seem distant from holding banners at a downtown Montreal rally in the snow, the reality […]

„Ohne Musik wäre das Leben ein Irrtum.“   Frederick Nietsche Forget military parades and college football halftime shows. The term “martial band” might be more appropriate to describe the ethics and esthetics of a marching band culture which is all […]