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Anthem: Social movements and the sound of solidarity in the African diaspora . By Shana L. Redmond . New York : New York University Press , 2014. 345 pp. ISBN 978-0-8147-7041-2
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There is little doubt that black people's struggle, in diaspora, as well as on the African continent, was one of the greatest transformative processes of 20th-century history. This is the historical context of Shana L. Redmond's book, with its strong emphasis on the USA, where five of the six analysed black anthems were performed and composed.
However, anthems did not only accompany but also mobilised the struggle, claims Redmond: they did not only belong to social movements but are those movements. Engaged in African American history, social movement studies and musicology, Redmond follows the history of black anthems, as she calls them, their performers, performance situations and audiences.
The life cycle of the represented anthems fits approximately within the 20th century, from 'Ethiopia', composed in 1918 by the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), through 'Lift Every Voice and Sing', 'Ol' Man River' and 'We Shall Overcome' to 'To be Young, Gifted and Black', composed in 1969 by Nina Simone, the latter marking the change from civil rights struggle to the black power era. The author gives detailed accounts of collective performances, while not forgetting semiotic aspects of individual voices. The description of the militaristic and gendered collective performance of UNIA's 'Ethiopia' is thus contrasted to the analysis of Nina Simone's performance and Paul Robeson's personal role in the transformation of 'Ol' Man River'. Redmond analyses several musical...