Today, December 10, is Human Rights Day 2024. Seventy-six years ago, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. You can read the ambitious document here and my Good Authority post on the 75th anniversary last year. And like 2023, 2024 has been a challenging year for human rights and democracy around the world.
In just the past month, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol briefly declared martial law, empowering his martial law commander, Park An-su, to ban “all forms of political activity by parties, media, and the public, and … punish any violators with arrests and detention.” In Georgia and Pakistan, law enforcement officers are cracking down on demonstrators. In Mexico, legislators are contemplating a number of constitutional changes that would undermine government accountability, privacy rights, and the independence of judges.
In Sudan, paramilitary forces continue to attack civilians, while famine spreads. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to uphold anti-trans legislation. French officials have wavered on the question of whether to comply with the International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu, who is charged with committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Israel-Hamas war. Since the war began, with Hamas militants massacring approximately 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, more than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed.
Staying hopeful about the world
Amid these grim circumstances, I have been listening to songs curated by students in my first-year seminar on human rights. I hope these songs make you think, challenge you to join the fight for human rights, and give you inspiration and hope.
Content warning: Some songs may include strong language and violent imagery.
The first set of songs – “Glory” by Common and John Legend, “Democracy” by The Lumineers, and “Freedom” by Beyoncé (featuring Kendrick Lamar) – speak to struggles for democracy, freedom, and human rights around the world. There were wins and losses in this struggle this year. But as my mom says – and, before her, freedom fighters in Mozambique’s war of independence from Portugal – A luta continua (the fight continues)! The fourth song, Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s version of “Shosholoza” (with other artists), is in honor of 30 years of democracy in South Africa.
The second set of songs are songs of protest – ranging from Bad Bunny’s “El Apagón” (“The Blackout”) – which criticizes maladministration, inequality, and injustice in Puerto Rico – to Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” and D’Angelo’s “The Charade,” which both challenge anti-Black violence in the United States, historically and presently. The anti-war music of System of a Down, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Pete Seeger takes listeners from headbanging to somber reflection.
The last songs – Lady Gaga’s “Born this Way” and The O’Jays’ “Love Train” – conclude the playlist with a reminder that our differences are beautiful and our humanity bonds us.
Music and controversy
Not everyone supports music with a social commentary, to be sure, even with constitutions protecting free speech and free expression. Billie Holiday faced severe backlash from some audiences, as well as the U.S. government, for the 1939 hit, “Strange Fruit,” which shone a light on racial terror lynchings. Many radio stations in the U.S. South refused to play the song, despite its popularity and commercial success. Yet the song’s legacy lives on and its relevance persists.
We see something similar many decades later with the 2011 sensation, “Born this Way,” being censored in different countries – notably Lebanon and Malaysia – for going against “public decency and morality” and being “offensive” to ordinary people. Nonetheless, more than a decade after its release, “Born this Way” topped Rolling Stone’s 50 Most Inspirational LGBTQ Songs of All Time, for “captur[ing] the joy and resilience of the community.”
Music can not only give representation to marginalized communities; it can also break barriers. Marlene Dietrich’s 1960 performance (in German) of Seeger’s “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” in Tel Aviv broke the taboo against singing in German in Israel. (Seeger reportedly wrote the song after being called to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Un-American Activities Committee – which, ironically, was itself un-American and was later dissolved.)
Music and connection
Music is a powerful way to connect with ourselves as individuals and with each other as people, perhaps especially on a day like today. We have rights because we are human; human rights are for all of us.
Check out the U.N.’s #StandUp4HumanRights campaign and see some of the many ways you can take action.
My deep thanks to my wonderful students for their contributions to this playlist!
