From the back cover:
Music does not make itself. It is made by people: professionals and amateurs, singers and instrumentalists, composers and publishers, performers and audiences, entrepreneurs and consumers. In turn, making music shapes those who make it—spiritually, emotionally, physically, mentally, socially, politically, economically—for good or ill, harming and healing. Continue reading
by Mark McAuley and Mike Ross
Marvin Gaye’s 1971 concept album, What’s Going On, might be commonly thought of as just another smooth R&B/Soul record, but its subject matter deals with heavy issues of race, poverty, war, and ecology. Though it was released 46 years ago, it has turned out be a prophetic commentary on our contemporary crises. Across the album’s nine songs, justice issues are anchored by a simple theology with a profound social application. The album has been remarkably popular with both black and white audiences, selling more than two million copies in the year of its release. Clearly, the album has been listened to for many decades by white America. But has it been heard? Continue reading
Music, Theology, and Justice 