The occasion of the 2026 Super Bowl provided the perfect opportunity to confirm to the world America’s grassroots antiracist sentiments. Bad Bunny’s performance featuring “El Apagón” as a resistance anthem highlighting Puerto Rican struggles and infrastructure issues and “Lo Que Le Pasó A Hawaii” (sung by Ricky Martin) which served as a statement on Puerto Rican culture and sovereignty. Additionally, Green Day brought their politically-charged ethos to the stage by performing politically-tinged music from their album Saviors, and Coco Jones performed pre-game the Black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Music acts as the “soul” of protest movements, serving as a strategic tool for organizing, a psychological anchor for activists, and a medium for international outreach. Its roles are multifaceted, ranging from building internal solidarity to broadcasting external demands. For Indigenous people across the globe, the mere fact that they exist today is an act of resistance; every generation since the time of contact has gone through various attempts of assimilation or genocide. The Indigenous side of history had been left out of textbooks — but it was through music that their stories really started to come out to the world.
Music plays several roles relating to solidarity/unity, morale/resilience, political signaling, narrative/awareness, and global mobilization. In its role of establishing solidarity and unity, music creates a shared identity and “indescribable power” by unifying voices into one, for example “We Shall Overcome” (US Civil Rights). To preserve morale and resilience, music sustains spirits during long-term struggles, providing courage in the face of fear or imprisonment, for example “No Nos Moverán” (Farmworkers’ Strike). Music provides political signaling to the extent that it functions as a covert or overt signal to coordinate actions without alerting authorities, for example “E Depois Do Adeus” (Carnation Revolution signal). Music establishes narrative and awareness by amplifying the voices of marginalized groups and documents specific injustices for the public, for example “Strange Fruit” (Anti-lynching). Music also catalyzes global mobilization by using digital platforms to rapidly disseminate messages and gain international support, for example “For” (Mahsa Amini / Iran Protests).
Music also has several potential strategic functions for resistance movements, including its adaptability, its inherent psychological strength, and its capacity for enabling cultural resistance. Activists often take familiar melodies (like hymns or popular tunes) and rewrite lyrics to make them easy for crowds to learn quickly—a tactic famously used by Joe Hill and later the SNCC Freedom Singers. Singing is used physically to calm nerves, “steel the nerves” against violence, and humanize protesters during confrontations with police or military forces. Music preserves the history and “emotional core” of a movement, ensuring that the struggle is remembered across generations even after active demonstrations cease. While traditional protest music often relied on participatory singing in streets and churches, modern movements like Black Lives Matter and EndSARS leverage digital distribution of genres like hip-hop and Afrobeats to reach a global audience instantly through platforms like TikTok and Spotify.
Along with Negro Spirituals among the earliest recorded protest music, Hawaiian protest songs, or mele kūʻē (songs of resistance), are a vital, long-standing tradition expressing aloha ʻāina (love for the land), sovereignty, and unity against injustice. Themes in Hawaiian Protest Music include Land Rights and Protection (songs often address the protection of sites like Mauna Kea and Kahoʻolawe), Sovereignty (Ea) reclaiming the independence of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Anti-Gentrification resisting over-development and high costs of living, and Cultural Preservation promoting the Hawaiian language, culture, and connection to the land.
Next month we will recognize some of the music that has fueled the call to action for American Indigenous people over the last 150 years.
