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The Maroon tiger.
April 04, 2018
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The Maroon tiger., April 04, 2018, Image 11
Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by a Digitizing Hidden Collections grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
About The Maroon tiger. (Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 4, 2018)
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Newspaper Page Text
SPECIAL EDITION
THE MAROON TIGER
THE 1968 MOREHOUSE j1 ]
would go on to cite this song as a source of inspiration.
Another cause that King championed toward the end of his life
was the ending of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War.
He saw a common thread in the struggle of African-Americans
in the Civil Rights Movement and the people of Vietnam.
King saw America’s involvement in Vietnam as modern impe
rialism and proposed that America cease all bombings in Viet
nam and bring home the troops stationed there in an effort to
begin peace talks.
Musical legend Jimi Hendrix shared this view. In 1969, his
rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner” expressed his opposi
tion to the war. In 1970, he recorded the song “Machine Gun,”
whose lyrics come from the perspective of a combat soldier in
Vietnam.
“It was a song that was critical of the war in Vietnam,” Liv
ingston said. “It’s one of the songs that musically and lyrically
was critical. It’s about a soldier and his machine gun and how it
preserves him, but it also kills a lot of people in Vietnam. That
killing took the lives of over 40,000 Americans.”
The song runs over 12 minutes long, and the drumming and
guitar riffs are played in a way meant to simulate the chaos and
uncertainty of life on the battlefield.
It is important to understand that black people in America were
not the only ones who made music that reflected the struggle.
People of African descent around the world made their voices
heard through their music.
“Black folks everywhere are now singing songs of oppression
everywhere,” Livingston said. “In Jamaica, this led to the birth
of reggae. You got a lot of conscious artists like Bob Marley.
In South Africa, you can look at the parallel of struggle there
to here in America. It expresses a liberation struggle in their
music.”
Marley popularized reggae across the world. His music soothed
the hearts of many while preaching messages of love, tolerance
and peace. He sought to unify people of the African diaspora
across the world, as exemplified by his Pan-African and Rasta
fari beliefs.
South African artists like Hugh Masekela, known as “the father
of South African jazz,” and Miriam Makeba, the wife of Stoke-
ly Carmichael known as “Mama Africa,” used their music to
express the pain and horrors of apartheid in their country. Their
music criticized the South African government and shared the
burden of their people.
Livingston sums up the power of music in representing the
struggle of black people everywhere in one quote.
“Music parallels, and it’s not one of those things that just drives
the struggle,” Livingston said. “It expresses the feeling and what
people are going through.”
Music has, and always will be, an expression of the human heart.
MTT
STAFF
Editor-in-Chief
C. Isaiah Smalls II
Managing Editor
Ayron Lewallen
Chief Layout Editor
TJ Jeter
Business Manager
Zuri Cheathem
Creative Director
Austyn Wyche
Photography Editor
Kai Washington
Campus News Editor
Kingsley Iyawe
Associate Campus News
Editor
Maya Lewis
Sports Editor
Tyler Mitchell
Associate Sports Editor
Tucker Toole
Features Editor
Jair Hilburn
Arts & Entertainment Editor
James Jones
Opinions Editor
Clarissa Brooks
Associate Opinions Editor
Demarcus Fields
Contributing Writers
Je’lon Alexander,
Roderick Diamond II
& Aaron Johnson
Advisers
Ron Thomas & David Dennis
