voice of the proletariat

8/14/2019 Voice of the Proletariat

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/voice-of-the-proletariat 1/38

Voice of the Proletariat: Hip Hop and Punk as Tools for Radical Social and Political

Change in the United States

Jessica R. Dreistadt

December 8, 2006

Corporate hegemony in the United States has constructed barriers that limit free

expression. Individual choice is often filtered through the demands of work, a lack of

sufficient funds, and exposure to ideas and information that advance capitalist interests.

Collectively, capitalism has led to pandemic wealth and income inequality, environmental

devastation, and the breakdown of community. Isolation, apathy, and anger are common

reactions among those who are distanced from the dogma of this destructive force and

excluded from its control, often leading to inner and external violence.

The music recording and distribution industry is but one casualty of modern

capitalism. Most mainstream music that flows through the airwaves is emotionally

bankrupt and artistically impoverished.

Hope and direction can be found by studying how the phenomena of Hip Hop and

punk transformed culture and society in New York City in the 1970s. Punk and Hip Hop

breathed soul into what had become a monotonous music industry and an uninspiring

sociopolitical environment. Both represented radical social action, calling into question

the relevance of the status quo and the legitimacy of the power structure. Through music,

dance, art, style, and attitude, participants in the new culture asserted their freedom and

created a unique intra-group solidarity.

This paper will explore the similarities between Hip Hop and punk in 1970s New

York City within the context of implicit social, cultural, and political meaning. In



addition, I will discuss the differences between punk and Hip Hop and their bases in

racial categorization, cultural exclusiveness, and geographic segregation. I will briefly

discuss the meeting of punk and Hip Hop in the early eighties, the effects of each

culture’s transnational growth and the infiltration of outside capitalist interest, and the

division of each group into the reactive and the progressive. I will conclude by projecting

the possibility of Hip Hop and punk culture forming a multicultural coalition that

intentionally directs angst and alienation across generations into a new social movement

with the power to fundamentally transform modern American society.

The Power of Music Transcends the Power of Capital

The political aspect of music can be understood in three ways: directly through

lyrical content or political action/involvement of musicians or indirectly as creating new

sounds and culture to restructure or redirect some aspect of society. Because the latter is

perhaps the most transformative, yet least recognized, aspect of music’s political

potential, and because this characteristic is most relevant to the study of Hip Hop and

punk, this analysis focuses on gaining a deeper understanding of this implicit meaning.

The other areas will also be discussed to provide additional insight into music and

culture’s potential political power.

Music can be used as a tool for social and political change. It is a means of

sharing ideas and feeling within and between groups of people. “Music can serve as a

communicative arena in which members of different communities debate and negotiate

the terms of their mutual relations” (Mattern, 1998:28). Music that represents oppressed

people and their organized social movements both reflects and influences their struggles

and dreams. Such music galvanizes group identity and purpose both in the present and,



in places where music is recorded and distributed or played live, in the future. Music

can, “inspire new movements by helping to keep the older movements alive in the

collective memory” (Eyerman and Jamison, 1998:12). By playing and listening to music

of the past, we can relive moments of struggle and solidarity, infusing this wisdom and

energy into current political activities.

Writer Tricia Rose explains that music creates, “communal bases of knowledge

about social conditions” and that these, “serve as the cultural glue that fosters communal

resistance” (Rose, 1994:99). Music has the inherent ability to bring people together,

encourage the sharing of ideas and information, and inspire group cohesion. Mark

Mattern describes this dynamic in Acting in Concert: Music, Community, and Political

Action. “The communities that musicians have helped to form and sustain provide the

social basis for political action that would be difficult or impossible among individuals

who are not tied together in this way” (1998:4). The social space created by musicians

and artists creates opportunities for meaningful dialogue, the development of social

capital, and civic engagement.

As art, music paints a picture of the world that either reflects the creator’s beliefs

about reality or presents her or his desires for a different reality. Political economist

Jacques Attali explains, “music is prophesy….it explores, much faster than material

reality can, the entire range of possibilities…it makes audible the new world that will

gradually become visible” (Attali, 1989:11). In the universe of music, anything is

possible. Musicians, and artists whose work complements music, can present individual

and social situations as they would prefer them to be. In this way, music can serve as an

inspiration for social and political change. “Music can …be about the power to dream,



about creating new structures of hope and momentum, new opportunities for developing

a community of concern” (Heble, 2003:238). Music and art can communicate new ideas

in a way that is interesting, emotive, participatory, and transformational.

Music, and the culture that develops around it, creates rituals and traditions that

ingrain and further its creators’ ideologies. Eyerman and Jamison note, “traditions have

to be constructed…by melding existing cultural materials into a new vision or idea of

some kind” (1998:38). Music creates a forum for the emergence of new modes of action

that are sustained through the replication of particular musical forms. Coupled with

political ideas, music can serve as the driving force of social movements.

The receivers of music contribute as much to its meaning as do the musicians

themselves. The audience is what makes music social, rather than individual, creating the

possibility for group dynamics and group action. The interpretation of music and art

influences the traditions and rituals that evolve from the artist’s vision. For example, “the

rock audience is…an active community, using its music as a symbol of solidarity” (Frith,

1981:50). Music provides the language through which audience members develop

common beliefs, determine mutual goals, and create plans of action.

New music can be revolutionary in its production, presentation, or distribution

(Heble, 2003:240). Through innovation and creativity, musicians can assert their

independence from expectations, assumptions, and popular beliefs or practices. Daniel

Fischlin asks, “Could it be that the introjection of new sonic textures, unheard of

instrumentations, unimagined sonic possibilities have anything to do with opening up

spaces of resistance and renewal that have an important connection with emergent rights



discourses?” (2003:12). Yes, radically new musical styles confront the authority of the

power structure and challenge its orthodoxy.

The Internet has democratized the distribution of music, to some extent, by

providing artists of modest means an avenue to share their music with listeners

worldwide. Computer technology, too, has opened up access to production techniques

that were at one time out of reach for most musicians. Despite these advances, the music

industry in the United States continues to be an oppressive, controlling, and exploitative

oligopoly that degenerates music’s potential to cultivate social and political change.

But The Power of Capital Controls the Power of Music

Music is also used as a tool of the capitalist. Jacques Attali names, “three

strategic uses of music by power…[to] make people forget the general violence…[to]

make people believe in the harmony of the world…[and] by mass producing a deafening,

syncretic kind of music, and censoring all other human noises” (1989:19). The music

industry controls the public agenda by propagating sounds that conform to the mass-

marketable mold it has created to the exclusion of music that is revolutionary in content

or style. The content of music can serve capitalist interests by, “lulling minds and

preventing critical thought” (Boti and Guy, 2003:68). By selecting music that pacifies

the masses, and censoring music that arouses their sensibilities, the music industry

heightens its ability to control and thereby protects its future.

The music industry is controlled by capitalists and its primary purpose is to

generate a profit. Music is caught in a cycle of despondency and dependence; it is a

commodity that fills the emotional and social void that our consumer culture creates.

Attali explains, “in a society where power is so abstract that it can no longer be seized, in



which the worst threat people feel is solitude and not alienation, conformity to the norm

becomes the pleasure of belonging, and the acceptance of powerlessness takes root in the

comfort of repetition” (1989:125). The nature of a particular music determines its

attraction; radicals typically choose revolutionary sounds that require active participation

while those who identify with convention lean toward prepackaged musical products.

When music is controlled by capitalists, its social and cultural relevance is

diminished as individual or communal beliefs and practices are relegated to those of the

generalized mass market. As domestic markets expanded to incorporate overseas

consumers, “the majors tended to prefer those most likely to attract audiences across

national boundaries” (Laing, 1985:2). The internationalization of the music industry has

furthered popular music’s decomposition.

Modern American music, particularly popular music, is strongly shaped by the

myth of the teenager - a consumer class that, in theory, has ample discretionary income

yet is free from the constraints of capitalist control. This “mythology was spawned from

the matrix of profound economic and social changes in white, middle-class life after

1945” (Osgerby, 1999:157). Adolescents purchase and consume music as a means of

self-expression, or more accurately, a way to demonstrate their affiliation with a specific

social subgroup. Most popular music is marketed to this vulnerable and eager target

audience, as well as to those who wish to recapture their youth. “If youth was the most

desirable social condition and to be young meant to be free from the narrow routines of

maturity, to be sexually vigorous and emotionally unrestrained, then anyone…could be

‘young’” (Frith, 1981:34). The industry that mass produces and markets music defines

freedom as detachment from economic restraint based on ownership in the capitalist



society, rather independence from it. The product of this philosophy is a sterile music

that perpetuates and expands the illusions of limitless opportunity.

Disco music in the 1970s was particularly hedonistic and excessive; it “embodied

a certain chi-chi quality of shallow glamour and cultivated decadence” (Fernando,

1994:69). This genre emerged at a time when technological innovation met a numbing of

sounds, thought, and feeling in commercial music. It was also a time when the masses

desperately needed reassurance…or a change.

The 1970s: Troubled Times

In the United States, the 1970s was a time of political upheaval, economic

turmoil, religious fundamentalism, and increased individualism. Much like the present

day, conflicts related to a war overseas, political integrity, economic security, and

corporate domination led the public to feel anxious and powerless.

This decade witnessed the end of the Vietnam War, the resignation of a scandalous

President, and the inauguration of ineffective leadership. Historian and social activist

Howard Zinn writes, “a citizenry disillusioned with politics…turned its attention (or had

its attention turned) to entertainment, to gossip, to ten thousand schemes for self-help”

(2003:564). At the same time, the public turned away from political participation. This

was an era of, “self-absorption, which implied a lack of social purpose and a

disengagement from public affairs” (Berkowitz, 2006:158).

An economic crisis added to the public’s, “suspicion, even hostility, to the leaders

of government, military, big business” (Zinn, 2003:556). During the 1970s, Americans

experienced an energy crisis, two recessions, stagflation (high inflation along with high

unemployment), the elimination of many high paying manufacturing jobs, a decline in



real wages, reduced productivity, and increased poverty. “Poor economic performance

eroded the respect that Americans had for their political leaders” (Berkowitz, 2006:53).

At the same time, corporations demonstrated a, “new emphasis on stock profitability”

(Berkowitz, 2006:54) and there was a “rise of the new Christian right” (Berkowitz,

2006:162).

Taken together, these events left a mark on the confidence and trust of the

American public. Many people drew inward as a reaction to these unstable and

uncontrollable surroundings. This led to a breakdown in communities and an increase in

self-interest.

New York City: A Crisis

New York City was profoundly affected by the economic and social changes of

the 1970s. Deindustrialization, suburbanization, and mismanagement led the city to

financial insolvency. “A sense of despair and decay emanated from a poorly run City

Hall, strike and corruption wracked municipal services, and the city was pervaded by the

sense that it…was essentially unlivable” (George, 2002). President Ford denied the city

critically needed financial assistance, echoing the lack of public support for the city felt

throughout the rest of the country.

The South Bronx, in particular, was troubled. A lack of economic opportunity,

decreased funding for public works and education, slum landlords, the drug trade, and

gang warfare devastated the South Bronx community in this decade. Financial

deprivation left, “working-class residents with limited affordable housing, a shrinking job

market and diminishing social services” (Rose, 1994:27). Absentee landlords exploited

the destitution of the community by “refusing to provide heat and water to the tenants,



withholding property taxes from the city, and finally destroying the buildings for

insurance money” (Chang, 2005:13). Making millions of dollars in insurance money for

the apartment building owners, the fires set in the Bronx during the 1970s led to

widespread homelessness. “Between 1973 and 1977, 30,000 fires were set in the South

Bronx alone” (Chang, 2005:15).

The bleak economic prospects of the community, amplified by its desolate

ambiance, led to the development of an underground economy and the solidification of

gang reign. “In response to poverty and unemployment, an illicit economy emerged as a

primary conduit for economic survival” (Neal, 2004:368). Drug dealing provided

economic opportunity while gang membership provided social cohesion. “Gangs

structured the chaos” (Chang, 2005:49) until a peace treaty in 1974 paved the way for an

alternative means of organizing social networks, celebrating identity, and claiming social

space. “Youthful energies turned from nihilistic implosion to creative explosion” (Chang,

2005:64).

Hip Hop

Hip Hop was born in the Bronx of this era. Tricia Rose writes, “although these

visions of loss and futility became defining characteristics, the youngest generation of the

South Bronx exiles were building creative and aggressive outlets for expression and

identification” (1994, 33). The Bronx youth who created Hip Hop culture transplanted

their dismal surroundings and bleak prospects with a creativity and innovativeness that

would change their community and the world. “Hip-hop is the voice of a generation that

refused to be silenced by urban poverty” (Kurtis Blow Presents).



Hip Hop was, and is, a revolutionary art form that provided African-American

youth who were oppressed and neglected by society at large the opportunity to speak and

be heard. “In the tradition of defiance…they developed artistic expressions…creating

music from the borrowed beats of soul, funk, disco, reggae, and salsa, overlaid with lyrics

reflecting their alienated reality” (Ards, 2004:312). These musical traditions came

together in a seven-mile area of the Bronx to form what is now known as Hip Hop. The

culture consists of four elements: DJing, MCing, breakdancing, and graffiti.

In the beginning, the DJ was the central figure in Hip Hop acts. The most

prominent pioneers of the time, known as the founding fathers of Hip Hop, are DJ Kool

Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and Afrika Bambaataa. Each created celebrations of African

American music, which had been largely ignored by radio stations, bringing together

neighborhood youths to experience and participate in the music and the culture. The

most respected DJs were admired for their ability to procure the obscure; “the most

creative DJs in the Bronx were able to build up strong local reputations as “masters of

records” – the librarians of arcane and unpredictable sounds that few could match” (Toop,

1984:65).

Youth in the South Bronx created their own way of creating and sharing music

because they were excluded from clubs due to their age, race, or economic status. “The

teenagers of the South Bronx and Harlem didn’t have the money to pay for admission to

the expensive midtown and downtown clubs, so they had their own parties.” (Kurtis

Blow Presents). Necessity is the mother of invention, and this void created an

opportunity for youth to experiment with music and art to create something unique and

exciting.



DJ Kool Herc invented the phenomenon of Hip Hop almost by accident. A

Jamaican immigrant, Herc was familiar with the dub of his homeland and combined this

mixing technique with American music. He also had a powerful stereo system. Knowing

this, his sister asked him if he would DJ a party at the community room in their Bronx

apartment building to raise money for her new school wardrobe (Chang, 2005:67). Herc

became well known throughout the community for his talent. After being stabbed at a

party, he dissipated from the scene.

Grandmaster Flash was an immigrant from Barbados. His fascination with

electronics and equipment led him to tinker with existing sound systems to create new

cutting and mixing techniques. “Hip hop artists,” like Flash, “transformed obsolete

vocational skills from marginal occupations into the raw materials for creativity and

resistance” (Rose, 1994:34). Despite his uncertainty about transferring raw Hip Hop to

vinyl, he would later record a mutated version of his music with the Furious Five and the

group would popularize a new message rap genre.

Afrika Bambaataa, a former Black Spade gang leader, had a vision of bringing

together divergent factions in the community through Hip Hop culture. While a gang

leader he, “made his rep by being unafraid to cross turfs to forge relationships with other

gangs” (Chang, 2005:95). The gang culture deteriorated and he redirected his energy into

the Universal Zulu Nation. “Bambaataa was trying to guide black street kids through the

gang phase toward a sense of collective solidarity and a more constructive attitude”

(Hebridge, 2005:226).

Bambaataa realized the potential that Hip Hop held for individual and community

transformation. “Bambaataa’s dream is that a sense of community can be created within



the community rather than being imposed by people coming from the outside…through

organizations like the Zulu Nation the people at the bottom of society will learn how to

help themselves and each other” (Hebridge, 2004:225). With his passion for breaking

down boundaries and forging new alliances, Bambaataa would take Hip Hop culture out

of the Bronx to share it with the downtown art scene. Africa Bambaataa married the

ideals of self-determination and cross-cultural cooperation through music and dance that

honored African-American heritage yet positioned itself within modern American society.

The MC replaced the DJ as the centerpiece of Hip Hop crews before its eventual

commercialization in the late 70s. “In the parks, especially, vocal entertainment was

often necessary for crowd control to soothe any tensions that might lead to violence”

(Fernando, 1994:10). Rapping over records grew from a diversion or accessory to the

main attraction. Rap music, as promoted by capitalist interests today, often deflates the

role of the DJ. Both DJs and MCs have contributed greatly, along with graffiti artists and

breakdancers, to the development of Hip Hop culture.

Audience participation was also an important component. Rather than passively

take in the sights and sounds of a performance, the audience participated through dance,

call and response, and even by jumping on the mic. “Hip hop clearly began as dance

music to be appreciated through movement, not mere listening” (Shusterman, 2004:461).

The artform’s transparency created an environment that invited new practitioners to

emerge.

Hip Hop culture articulated the art of defiance by creating a mélange of unique

sounds using new production techniques, bypassing legal and artistic tradition, and

serving as a vehicle for the self-determination of African-American youth at a time when



cultural homogenization and exclusion of minorities from meaningful participation in the

economic system were the norm. In addition, the culture confronted race and class

privilege by opening up a new community infrastructure and by illuminating what Imani

Perry refers to as a, “radical commitment to otherness” (2004:47). S. H. Fernando

describes rap as, “rebel music, made by people who have been cast as the outsider”

(1994:xix). This self-awareness and defiant stance is revealed through lyrics, cultural

elements, the reoccupation of public space, and the reclamation of African-American

music.

Jeff Chang describes the impact of Hip Hop in relation to South Bronx youth’s

socioeconomic situation in his book, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop:

“they shared a revolutionary aesthetic…unleashing youth style as an expression of

the soul, unmediated by corporate money, unauthorized by the powerful, protected and

enclosed by almost monastic rites, codes, and orders. They sprung from kids who had been born into the shadows of the baby boom generation, who never grew up expecting

the whole world to be watching. What TV camera would ever capture their struggles and

dreams? They were invisible. But invisibility was its own kind of reward; it meant youhad to answer to no one except the others who shared your condition. It meant you

became obsessed with showing and proving, distinguishing yourself and your originality

above the crowd. It put you on a relentless quest to prove to them that you were bigger,wilder, and bolder than circumstances dictated you should ever be, to try to generate

something from nothing, something no one else had, until everyone around you had to

admit that you had something they might never have.” (2005:111)

The youth of the South Bronx acted out their collective conscience by expressing their

individual talent and aspirations within a shared cultural and economic context. They

didn’t ask for permission, they didn’t weigh their acts against the expectations of

outsiders, and they didn’t expect redemption from any authority figure. Hip Hop was a

communal phenomenon that defied social convention and redefined the position of

African American youth.



By providing a forum to articulate individual interests and ideas amid collective

hardship, Hip Hop would, “open up spaces to challenge the hegemonic structures of

understanding and meaning propagated by the dominant culture of white supremacy”

(Perry, 2004:45). Within the community, however, the territorial and dominative aspects

of gang life persisted. “The territories were tentatively claimed through the ongoing

cultural practices …a transition from gang-oriented affiliations…to music and break

dance affiliation that maintained…the important structuring systems of territoriality”

(Forman, 2004:203). The structure created through Hip Hop culture reinforced systems

of control within the group and rejected such restrictions from the outside.

Sampling, which means extracting specific components of music and repeating

them or combining them with other pieces of music to create new compositions, calls into

question the validity of commercial music as art and the legal rights of its creators. “To

reuse portions of copyrighted material without permission undermines legal and capital

market authority” (Rose, 1994:90). This process acknowledges the beauty of art and

music while rejecting the notion that art can be owned, bought, or sold. It, “implies that

an artwork’s integrity as object should never outweigh the possibilities for continuing

creation through the use of that object…art is essentially more process than finished

product – a welcome message in our culture, where the tendency [is] to reify and

commodify all artistic expression” (Shusterman, 2004:462).

Hip Hop expanded and broke through cultural and artistic boundaries. This new

music and culture seemed foreign and grotesque to many white people and middle class

blacks; “their ways of hearing and seeing one again represented the potent and tangible

shock of the new” (George, 2002). As with many other new forms of expression, social



and political conservatives –as well as many liberals - rejected this new culture and

refused to recognize its artistic merit.

The youth of the South Bronx used Hip Hop music, art, and dance to solidify and

expose their individual and collective identity while enjoying the freedom of expression

under the rule of oppression. Many people did not want to see or hear the uncomfortable

realities of urban life that Hip Hop presented as the culture expanded beyond the confines

of its six-mile radius of origin.

In the 1970s, Hip Hop was a living art that was, “largely unrecorded and

undocumented” (Dimitriadis, 2004:421). Rap, graffiti, and breakdancing were all

performed in the moment and, while sometimes photographed or recorded on tape, were

not initially molded to fit the concept of a packaged commercial product. “Until 1979

the sole documentation of Bronx hip hop was cassette tapes” (Toop, 1984:78). DJs and

MCs played live at parties in parks and community centers with the goal of creating an

experience for the community rather than one of creating a product that would sell on the

mainstream market. “Hip Hop’s pioneers in the 70s either hadn’t the connections or the

wherewithal to make records. More importantly, it seems that they hadn’t even

considered the possibility” (Fricke and Ahearn, 2002:177).

Hip Hop culture matured as its founders grew up. “The DJs themselves wanted

more. It was no longer about rocking the block party and establishing a rep. They

wanted to make a living” (Chang, 2005:129). Oddly enough, the first popular rap

recording artists were not those who had worked the circuit in the South Bronx; this

genre was pioneered by a 40-something music industry veteran and three relatively

unknown MCs from New Jersey.



The first record companies to produce and promote rap music were black owned.

Sylvia Robinson, founder of Sugar Hill Records, rounded up three disparate rappers to

form the Sugar Hill Gang. Together, they put out “Rapper’s Delight,” the second Hip

Hop record and the first to be a commercial success. After incorporating the

technological techniques of disco, rap “exploded commercially” (Perkins, 1996:10).

Although those who commercialized Hip Hop were inside the African American

community, their outsider status with the core group of early innovators significantly

changed the social and economic context of the genre:

“ “Rapper’s Delight” clearly ruptured the art form’s sense of community as a live practice known to all its “in group” members…The decentralized face-to-face social

dynamic which marked early hip hop was thus given way to a different dynamic, onemediated by way of commodity forms such as vinyl, video and CD. These configurations

have separated hip hop’s vocal discourse (i.e. “rap”) from its early contexts of communal

production, encouraging closed narrative forms over flexible word-play and promoting

individualized listening over community dance.” (Dimitriadis, 2004:421)

The major labels soon recognized the probability of profit in this new industry.

“Once a smidgen of commercial viability was established the major labels attempted to

dominate production and distribution.” (Rose, 1994:6). In 1980, Kurtis Blow recorded an

album with Mercury Records. He, “was the first to combine hip hop with a ‘70s concept

of production and marketing” (Toop, 1984:93). The interest of the majors further

deteriorated the communal aspect and artistic innovativeness of Hip Hop.

As the focus of Hip Hop shifted from artistic expression to capitalist domination,

the revolutionary nature of the culture was stifled. Hip Hop assimilated into the system

that it had rebelled against. “The integration of hip hop into the mainstream means that

such ideas become virtually indistinguishable from celebrations of the American

capitalist practices integral to the economic devastation of black communities and the



enormous wealth disparities in US society that disproportionately affect black people.”

(Perry, 2004:196)

The culture further changed as its audience and market base grew. When

contained in the six-mile radius, Hip Hop culture reflected the struggles and ideas of its

community. S. Craig Watkins explains:

“The music’s ability to travel would not only expose it to more people; it also

made it easier to learn, imitate, and even modify the genuinely creative flourishes that

flower throughout the movement. Later, the wider circulation of hip hop in the form of albums, radio, music video, and even fashion transformed the culture by subjecting it to a

variety of regional, economic, and political interests that have simultaneously broadened

and baffled the culture’s identity; its sense of community and purpose.” (2005:14)

Yet, Hip Hop still has the potential to be revolutionary. “Given hip-hop’s social

origins and infectious appeal, there’s long been a hope that it could help effect social

change” (Ards, 2004:313). Like Afrika Bambaataa demonstrated, Hip Hop can serve as a

vessel through which the creative energies and angst of the dispossessed can be

channeled. And like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, along with many other

message rappers have shown, rap can be used as a tool to communicate information about

urban challenges and ideas about possible solutions. “Rap’s capacity as a form of

testimony, as an articulation of a young black urban critical voice of social protest has

profound potential as a basis for a language of liberation.” (Rose, 1994:144)

Punk

Punk’s early iterations are more diverse than those of Hip Hop. Punk is, “a

contrived and superficial category, it blurs across a diversity of genres and sub-genres”

(Osgersby, 1999:156). Its founders were mostly young white men; however, they

represented various social classes. Punk consists of those bands that rejected the



homogeneity of the commercial music industry. They expressed a, “sense of outrage

which pervaded their stage appearance and behavior…[and the] oppositional position

they occupied in relation to the musical establishment” (Laing, 1985:23). Early artists

were musical pioneers who created new kinds of music, presented the music in unique

ways, and explored taboo subject matter through their lyrics.

This new musical genre was finally named ‘punk’ upon the publication of a zine

of the same name in 1976. Punk connected all of the bands involved in the underground

rock scene along with the underlying beliefs and assumptions directing their behavior.

This magazine, “pulled together the disparate elements of the CBGBs scene into a

powerful fantasy” (Savage, 2001:132). This publication and others both reflected and

directed the current of the culture.

A handful of clubs welcomed the early punk bands. The Mercer Arts Center and

Max’s Kansas City served as venues for punk until CBGBs became the premier club for

punk bands when it opened in 1974. It, “provided an intimate, affordable space which

allowed freedom of movement of the audience; close proximity to and interactions with

the performers; and a place that the new movement could call home.” (Henry, 1989:53).

The availability of this space provided the environmental conditions necessary for the

punk scene to gel and grow.

There were three waves of early New York City punk: art rock, glitter rock, and

underground rock. Art rock bands, such as the Velvet Underground, Suicide, and the Patti

Smith Group, were avant-garde ensembles who enlivened subversive poetry and simple

music through the creation of a daunting ambiance. The New York Dolls influenced

punk more than any other glitter rock band. Glitter rock challenged the prevailing music



scene by, “confusing traditional images of gender distinction and incorporating subject

matter deemed offensive to the general public” (Henry, 1989:31). Underground rock

bands, such as the Ramones and Television, combined a hard appearance with simple, yet

energized, music. Some UK bands, such as the Sex Pistols and the Clash, were also

instrumental to the development of punk both in their homeland and in the United States.

The Velvet Underground was an art-rock band formed in the 1960s who heavily

influenced the punk movement both in sound and style. They, “predicted the punk style:

the choice of subject matter commonly deemed offensive to the middle class…the

deliberately amateurish quality of the music, and the generally pessimistic attitude

towards the future” (Henry, 1989:x). Artist Andy Warhol nurtured the growth of the

Velvets by financing their projects, promoting their work, and instructing their artistic and

business choices.

Suicide broke from the expectations of musical performers by having only two

people in the band, so that the sound and presentation of their music differed from the

norm, by writing controversial lyrical content, and by confronting audiences with

shocking behavior. Suicide’s music was austere; it was, “a self-conscious attempt to

develop the notions of repetition, monotony, and dissonance first introduced into the rock

arena by the Velvets” (Heylin, 1993:68). Their music was initially intended only to be

performed live; “it would have been impossible to conceive of Suicide on vinyl” (Heylin,

1993:69). However, they did finally record their first album in 1977.

Patti Smith was a poet who later incorporated music into her act. She gave poetry

a, “disarming relevance by placing it in this unfamiliar context” (Heylin, 1993:129). Patti

Smith contrasted with the popular music scene by fusing radical feminist poetry with



rock & roll. Nonetheless, the Patti Smith Group was one of the first New York punk

bands to record and receive critical acclaim and find commercial success. Her crossover

from poet to musician began in 1973 she opened for the New York Dolls at the Mercer

Arts Center (Heylin, 1993:112).

Unlike the art rock bands, the New York Dolls were flashy and flamboyant. They

wore makeup and dressed in women’s clothing, presenting a, “sexually ambiguous

appearance” (Henry, 1989:37). And unlike most people on the punk scene, who were

middle class, the Dolls were, “from working-class backgrounds and all, with the

exception of Sylvain, high-school dropouts” (Henry, 1989:43). The New York Dolls also

played simple music, although it sounded more like traditional rock & roll than the Velvet

Underground or Suicide. Rock photographer Bob Gruen recalls, “when people saw them

they said, ‘Well, I can do that.’ It didn’t seem so hard anymore. I think they inspired a

lot of people” (in Colegrave and Sullivan, 2005:61). They exemplified the do it yourself

ethos has become a prevalent value in the punk scene. The New York Dolls also strongly

influenced Malcolm McLaren, serving as a “blueprint” for the Sex Pistols (Colegrave and

Sullivan, 2005:19).

Blondie does not neatly fit into the aforementioned categories; their music

incorporated punk, rock, pop, disco, and rap sounds. Their charming lead singer, Debbie

Harry, distinguished herself from her contemporaries by revealing an aching vulnerability

and brazen femininity amidst her tenacious and rebellious spirit. Because of their

musical diversity and visual appeal, Blondie was among one of the first punk bands to

cross over to the mainstream. “Blondie…had to play the game of accepting their New



Wave status in England and resisting it in the US where, throughout the late seventies,

punk was treated as some kind of malignancy in modern music” (Heylin, 1993:309).

Television combined the tough appearance of the art rock bands with the more

traditional musical style of the glam rockers. Their residency at CBGBs, “cemented a

relationship between the art-rock crowd…and...rock & roll crowd” and this “alliance had

a major effect on the development of New York’s new…scene” (Heylin, 1993:133).

Many punk historians believe that Television’s attitude and style was instrumental to the

development of the genre (for example see Savage, 2001:89 and Henry 1989:55).

Like Television, the Ramones exuded a tough appearance and attitude. However,

their music was faster, more raw, and more intense – what could be described as a

“primitive buzzsaw sound” (Heylin, 1993:166). Their lyrics, like many other early punk

bands, explored forbidden territory. They recorded their first album in 1976.

The Sex Pistols were a controversial British band intentionally constructed by

entrepreneur Malcolm McLaren. McLaren worked with the New York Dolls in New

York and London, studying their music and, for a short time, designing their wardrobe.

Intrigued with the market potential of punk, he recruited local teenagers in London to

form the Sex Pistols. In 1975, “McLaren would be playing Dolls records for the Sex

Pistols, just as two decades before Sam Phillips had played old blues records for his new

rockabilly singers” (Marcus, 1989:49). They were the first punk band to consistently

incorporate strong political messages into their music. The Sex Pistols toured the US in

1978, but the northern half of their tour, including New York City, had to be cancelled

because their visas were delayed (Savage, 2001:430). By the end of the decade, many

British punk musicians, including former Sex Pistols, visited and moved to New York and



immersed into the local scene. Despite the strong American foundations of punk, and the

intentional construction of their band, the Sex Pistols are often given credit for starting

the punk movement.

Punk music, style, and attitude represented a deliberate schism from the recording

industry and mainstream society. Punk was anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist, and

nonconformist. It “emerged and continues to exist as a response to a politically and

socially conservative capitalist, white-supremacist ruling-class” (Malott and Pena,

2004:68). Punk defied the prevalent conventional wisdom that consumption and wealth

constituted the American Dream. Punk bands “sent-up (even subverted) many of the

mythologies of unabashed consumption and confident affluence that had been at the heart

of Nixon’s 1959 suburban fantasy” (Osgerby, 1999:166).

Punk represented a ”collective of individual free spirits” (Colegrave and Sullivan,

2005:12). Autonomy and individual responsibility were paramount to the punk lifestyle.

Its participants were connected by this belief; a consistent social position or political

ideology was not present. “There was no grand plan or unified manifesto…nobody ever

claimed to be part of a movement” (Colegrave and Sullivan, 2005:382).

Punk opened up new lines of communication and facilitated new opportunities for

social interaction, cohesion, and action. It created, “vehicles through which

counterhegemonic ideas are articulated and countercultural spaces are created” (Malott

and Pena, 2004:62). It also was a means for youth empowerment. “Unlike nearly every

other youth subculture…punk began as music and punks themselves began as music fans

and performers. In every other case the youth subculture adopted an already existing



type of music” (Laing, 1985:xi). The do it yourself nature of many of the early punk

bands further solidified the centrality of youth’s involvement in the movement.

As art, punk opened up new means of composition, performance, and production.

Its simplicity encouraged new bands to join in; “punk demystified the production process

itself – its message was that anyone could do it” (Frith, 1981:159). Audience

participation was a very important component of early punk shows; “the impossible

dream was to first abolish the distance, and then the difference, between performer and

audience” (Laing, 1985:82).

Punk questioned the contrived and polished disco-era music industry. It was “a

reaction against established theories and techniques of art, as well as against the society

which produces them” (Henry, 1989:1). Punk diverged from the mainstream by creating

new sounds, redefining the skills needed to perform, and highlighting subjects or ideas

that most people ignored or neglected.

Punk lyrics, musical style, and fashion shocked and alienated outsiders, both

deliberately and incidentally. “The older generation…could find nothing redeeming or

understandable about punk” (Colegrave and Sullivan, 2005:382). Punk even caught the

attention of the President. “Carter said during a jazz concert or similar on the White

House lawn that he wanted to stop Punk” (Country Joe MacDonald in Savage, 2001:435).

Punk interpreted social and political realities in a way that made sense to, and was

constructive for, those who were active in the movement. “It would shape a glossary in

which the passive neologisms of the 1970s human-potential and self-improvement

therapies…were translated back into active English (“Fuck off and die”)” (Marcus,



1989:89). Punk exemplified a certain realism and many did not want to acknowledge the

medium or the message.

The media shaped most Americans’ perception of punk. “The effect of

mainstream media exposure was to frighten and alienate the general public and afford the

punk a sinister notoriety which underscored and amplified their rebellious intentions”

(Henry, 1989:viii). As a tool of capitalist, the media demonstrated support for music and

cultural norms that were comfortable for their advertiser’s middle class consumers and

therefore profitable for their sponsors.

Despite its revolutionary beginnings, this burgeoning musical genre was targeted

by the record companies when its commercial potential was realized. This change

influenced the music and style of the original punk bands. “The Ramones, Blondie,

Talking Heads…Television – all secured recording deals between January 1976 and the

winter of 1976-7” (Heylin, 1993:249). By the end of the decade, the early innovators of

the movement were firmly incorporated into the benign. “1978 was the most successful

year for punk in commercial terms…Big record companies with big marketing budgets

had assimilated the anti-establishment and enlisted its support in the battle for record

sales” (Colegrave and Sullivan, 2005:290).

Hip Hop and Punk As Sisters in the Struggle

The beginnings of punk more diffuse than those of Hip Hop; this makes cross-

analysis a bit untidy. Its start can therefore not be precisely pinpointed, though it was

first named with the publication of an American zine called Punk in 1976. And although

this subculture took root in New York City, some of punk’s most influential forebears

were from Detroit, Cleveland, and other cities. This analysis is further complicated by



the fact that most published research about punk focuses on the London scene, despite its

American origins. Nonetheless, this section will attempt to identify similarities in the

beginnings of Hip Hop and Punk.

When Pennsylvania punk Craig O’Hara explains the social situation of punk, it

can apply to Hip Hop as well:

“Repeatedly…a group of the alienated will recognize what is happening to

themselves. This realization can be based on an active rejection either of or by the

mainstream society. These groups can either reject the alienation they see before them or can be unwillingly alienated from the mainstream…some out-groups greatly desire to be

a part of the mainstream while others do not…These subcultures appear to have members

who are much less alienated from their own being and are often seen trying to reclaim

their subjective powers. Members of subcultures, regardless of how oppressed, haveoften succeeded in finding a solidarity and understanding amongst themselves that is

lacking in mainstream society. Members seem to regain a sense of themselves and eachother that had been previously lost, forgotten, or stolen.” (1999:22-3)

Those who created and participated in punk and Hip Hop culture in the early days

expressed a deeply rooted class-consciousness. Punks usually rejected their middle-class

backgrounds while Hip Hop heads celebrated the outsider class status proscribed to

African Americans in the United States. Both clearly stood in opposition to the ruling

class of capitalists and the values and limitations espoused through its dominative

presence in society. Specifically, punk and Hip Hop were a reaction to two effects of

capitalism: economic oppression and homogenized, highly-technical music production

and distribution.

Hip Hop and punk used music and art to respond to capitalistic oppression and

economic depression, and to express frustration with the effects felt by those on the

fringes of society. Hip Hop and punk participants gravitated toward the values, culture,

feelings, and worldview of the alienated. This stance was not necessarily compassionate



or charitable; their music and cultural elements exemplified realism and solidarity.

Defiance, resiliency, and self-determination shaped the experiences and artistic

expressions of early punks and Hip Hoppas.

Hip Hop and Punk were both spontaneous youth movements rooted in a changing

society. By presenting anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist messages related to the post-

industrial urban society, punk and Hip Hop assumed power and control over their own

individual lives and communities. They were tools to transcend boundaries of proscribed

social roles and social situations, creating a new social reality. This reality was initially,

and vehemently, rejected by mainstream society.

Hip Hop and punk both created community as they created music. The

subversive nature of both, along with the identifying characteristics of style and attitude,

led to the development of strong subcultures. Yet, both Hip Hop and punk valued

individual style and responsibility within this shared cultural context. Participants

distinguished themselves and developed notoriety by pushing the envelope just a little bit

further. The self was central to the creation and experience of the culture, expressing the

collective conscience as interpreted by each individual based on his or her experiences,

values, will, and ambitions.

Unlike other music of the time, the development of Hip Hop and punk was

strongly influenced by audiences in addition to performers. The audience was a critical

component of each performance, assuming a dynamic role in each event as co-creators of

the experience. Both also inspired audience members to become performers themselves;

the accessibility of the musical production techniques reduced the obstacles that

commonly excluded most people, particularly those without financial means, from the



ability to create new music. This created an opportunity for those without a voice to

become co-creators of society.

Both used revolutionary new sounds to express feelings about self and society.

The lyrics, too were radical in that they explored the unpretty subjects of the streets.

Punk and Hip Hop opened up new cultural, social, and political spaces.

Hip Hop and Punk did not communicate a visualization of the future. Rather,

they expressed the joys and frustrations of daily life as participants lived in the moment.

Their purpose was not to change society through public policy or education, but to cause

an unsustained uprising.

Eventually, the commercial potential of punk and Hip Hop were realized and they

became, in many ways, a tool of the capitalist as certain aspects assimilated into

mainstream society. Both subcultures were commercially reconstructed by adult

outsiders who manipulated the meaning of punk and Hip Hop to please the buying public.

Both are now diverse, transnational movements. The impact of commercialization has

been to minimize the revolutionary aspects of punk and Hip Hop, to change the

composition, production, and distribution of the music and culture, to enlist new

supporters with divergent interests, and to force those who represent the true spirit of Hip

Hop and punk to the periphery of its creation. Despite their dilution, punk and Hip Hop

still have the ability to shock and intimidate many “average middle class white people” as

well as the ruling class.

But Punk and Hip Hop Speak Different Languages

Although punk and Hip Hop share many similarities, they are very different in

terms of race and class. Punk consciously rejected middle class values while Hip Hop



recognized and articulated its participants’ exclusion from the middle class. Participation

in punk constituted a conscious choice of class membership while Hip Hoppas were

responding to a class membership that had been imposed on them. In this sense, punk

represents a form of self-hatred while Hip Hop represents increased self-awareness.

Hip Hop and Punk were influenced by geographic and social space related the

race of its actors. African American youth that were racially segregated in the Bronx

were also systematically excluded from the music industry, including record companies

and performance spaces. “We weren’t socially accepted at disco joints; we were pretty

much segregated” (DJ Disco Wiz in Fricke and Ahearn, 2002:26). This situation fostered

the development of the unique sounds and attitudes of Hip Hop. As Tricia Rose explains,

“much of rap’s critical force grows out of the cultural potency that racially segregated

conditions foster” (Rose, 1994:xiii).

Both Hip Hop and punk were initially rejected by mainstream society. Hip Hop

had to overcome the additional stigma of being African American music. “Like other

forms of black music, rap also has had to combat perceptions of it as a crude, simple, and

barbaric “jungle” music” (Fernando, 1994:xxii). In addition, those who participated in

Hip Hop were suspected of illegal behavior by law enforcement. “The police also made

thousands of arrests and stepped up intelligence of youths of color – monitoring their

crews, confiscating black books, interrogating graffiti perps and raiding homes” (Chang,

2005:135).

Fusion and Diffusion

Although punk and Hip Hop co-existed in the same city, they did not fully meet

until the early 1980s. In the early years, Hip Hop was largely isolated to the South Bronx



and punk to lower Manhattan. There was some interaction in the 70s, when graffiti art

captured the attention of gallery owners downtown. The cultures collaborated in the 80s

to share music across audiences. Punk rockers’ visits to the Bronx are less documented,

perhaps because of their infrequency. This trend is in line with the propensity for white

social spaces and artists to dominate that of African Americans.

Some punk groups, like Blondie, recognized the similarities between punk and

Hip Hop early on. Blondie guitarist Chris Stein recalls, “[Graffiti artist Fab Five] Freddy

took Debbie [Harry] and me up to a Police Athletic League in the Bronx for this sort of

hip-hop convention…it was very parallel to what was going on in the punk scene” (in

Fricke and Ahearn, 2002:283). Blondie recorded the single, “Rapture” in 1980. It was

the first rap recording to hit number one on the US charts. Blondie also invited the Funky

Four Plus One to play with them on Saturday Night Live in 1981. “I’m pretty sure that…

was the first time there was a rap group on national TV” (Chris Stein in Fricke and

Ahearn, 2002:216)

The Clash, a British band, were very interested reggae and Hip Hop music and

incorporated some of their techniques into their own music. They, “were attempting to

create their own white Rasta in Punk – a new cultural resistance” (Savage, 2001:237).

They also had many African American artists open their shows in the United States.

Kurtis Blow opened several shows for The Clash in 1981, despite the reputation opening

acts had for being disliked by their audience. “I was elated, I was honored, and then I

heard the stories!…The challenge became more like a mission or a quest to be the first

African American act to open for The Clash and not get trashed…I came out like an MC

and introduced The Clash. I used child psychology” (Walker, 2006). Unlike the punk



and society. Both can also be arranged along a continuum representing conflict and

violence – from those who practice and preach reactive violence under a false concept of

survival to those who advocate for a proactive transformation of society. The two

movements can also be aligned along a third dimension – that of assimilation versus

independence.

Now is the Time to Get Organized

History provides a prismatic lens through which we can illuminate and clarify the

complex meanings of our current reality and envision a brighter future. The story of Hip

Hop and punk are an inspiration to modern revolutionaries who reject the values and

activities of capitalism. In fact, an intentional coalition of true punks and Hip Hop heads

would have the power to transform modern American society. Such a coalition is sorely

needed.

Today, income inequality and poverty have escalated to new highs in the United

States. At the same time, rampant consumerism, tokenism, and commodity fetishism

have eroded, to some extent, the values of family, community, and artistic expression.

This imbalance has had a negative impact on the natural and built environment,

individual self-esteem, and collective identity.

Punk and Hip Hop are uniquely positioned to fuel a worldwide progressive

political movement. True punks and Hip Hoppas, those who remain revolutionary, have

become more deliberately political since the early days - both in lyrics and in social

actions. There has been an intentional break from the commercialized corruptions of

these subcultures by many who feel that their individual, and the community’s, best



interests are better served through alternative means. Underground Hip Hop and punk

communities are flourishing, and their beliefs are clearly anti-capitialist.

Perhaps as the material world catches up to the prophesy of music, social actors

can build upon the thoughts shared by musicians of the past and present by transferring

their ideas into meaningful strategic actions. Punk and Hip Hop participants have clearly

articulated the leftist point of view; now it is time for their supporters to come together in

solidarity to systematically obliterate the root causes of poverty and environmental

devastation. A contrived convergence of the Hip Hop and punk undergrounds could

potentially organize the proletarian class, deconstruct barriers of society, open up new

social and political possibilities, and lead to the development of new, progressive

organizations based on cooperation and mutual benefit. An intentional cross-cultural

coalition of the punk and Hip Hop communities could catalyze and redirect each group’s

collective cultural and political assets in order to cauterize the cancers of capitalism and

construct new social and political institutions.

The internationalization of Hip Hop and punk music and culture has led to the

infection of new movement participants. Although many of them may be politically

uninformed or uninspired, a movement that builds upon this common basis could engage

the youth in meaningful social and political actions. By using music and culture as a

means to communicate ideas and create community, social and political action could be

encouraged in a nonthreatening and inspiring way.

Youth engagement is critical, but an intergenerational movement would be more

effective. The coalition should maximize the energy and optimism of youth as well as the

wisdom and experience of elders.



Black Panther leader Fred Hampton “believed that the gangs collected the fearful

and the forgotten. If gangs gave up robbing the poor, terrorizing the weak, hurting the

innocent, they might become a powerful force for revolution” (Chang, 2005:46). Like

gangs, other adverse communities also absorb individuals who feel alienated, angry, or

insignificant. Punk and Hip Hop have attracted and absorbed many such people. Though

this has led to a political and social division in each movement, the potential for

contribution of every person who identifies with the movements should be explored. The

negative energy that is poured into criminal activity and other hateful thoughts and

actions could be redirected into positive activities that benefit the individual and the

community.

The democratization of technology could aid such a movement. Not only has the

Internet opened up distribution networks for musicians and artists to share their work

throughout the world, it has also created a means of communication that is highly

accessible, inexpensive, and extensive.

There would, of course, be several challenges to building such a coalition. The

first would be to identify potential participants and to develop marketing strategies to

reach them and encourage their buy-in to the idea. The second would be to develop a

consistent, comprehensive, and inclusive means of communication to determine mutual

goals and to develop strategies. The third would be to organize such a magnificent

undertaking. And finally, the movement would need to stay revolutionary and radical –

in the broadest definition of those terms – as it grows and engages new supporters.



Ards, Angela. “Organizing the Hip-Hop Generation.” That’s the Joint! The Hip-HopStudies Reader. Eds. Forman, Murray and Neal, Mark Anthony. New York: Routledge,

2004

Attali, Jacques. (Massumi, Brian, Trans.). Noise: The Political Economy of Music.

Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1989.

Berkowitz, Edward D. Something Happened: A Political and Cultural Overview of the

Seventies. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006.

Boti, Marie and Guy, Malcolm. “Making Rebel Musics: The Films.” Rebel Musics: Human Rights, Resistant Sounds, and the Politics of Music Making. Eds. Fischlin, Daniel

and Heble, Ajay. New York: Black Rose Books, 2003.

Chang, Jeff. Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. New York:

St. Martin’s Press, 2005.

Colegrave, Stephen and Sullivan, Chris. Punk: The Definitive Record of a Revolution.

New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2005.

Dimitriadis, Greg. “Hip-Hop: From Live Performance to Mediated Narrative.” That’sthe Joint! The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. Eds. Forman, Murray and Neal, Mark Anthony.

New York: Routledge, 2004.

Eyerman, Ron and Jamison, Andrew. Music and Social Movements: Mobilizing

Traditions in the Twentieth Century. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Fernando, Jr., S.H. The New Beats: Exploring the Music, Culture, and Attitudes of Hip-

Hop. New York: Anchor Books, 1994.

Fischlin, Daniel. “Take One/Rebel Musics: Human Rights, Resistant Sounds, and the

Politics of Music Making.” Rebel Musics: Human Rights, Resistant Sounds, and the

Politics of Music Making. Eds. Fischlin, Daniel and Heble, Ajay. New York: Black Rose

Books, 2003.

Forman, Murray. “ “Represent”: Race, Space, and Place in Rap Music.” That’s the

Joint! The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. Eds. Forman, Murray and Neal, Mark Anthony. New

York: Routledge, 2004.

Fricke, Jim and Ahearn, Charlie. Yes Yes Y’all: The Experience Music Project Oral

History of Hip-Hop’s First Decade. Cambridge, MA: De Capo Press, 2002.

Frith, Simon. Sound Effects: Youth, Leisure, and the Politics of Rock’n’Roll. New York:

Pantheon Books, 1981.



Rose, Tricia. Black Noise: Black Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America.

Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1994.

Savage, Jon. England’s Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond. New

York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2001.

Shusterman, Richard. “Challenging Conventions in the Fine Art of Rap.” That’s the

Joint! The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. Eds. Forman, Murray and Neal, Mark Anthony. New

York: Routledge, 2004.

Toop, David. The Rap Attack: African Jive to New York Hip-Hop. Boston: South End

Press, 1984.

Walker, Kurtis “Blow.” Phone interview. 31 Oct. 2006.

Watkins, S. Craig. Hip Hop Matters: Politics, Pop Culture, and the Struggle for the Soul

of a Movement. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2005.

Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States: 1492 – Present. New York:HarperCollins Publishers, 2003.

voice of the proletariat

Documents