When he is profiled and arrested in the second half of the seven-minute track, the 70-year-old’s song sends chills that the same injustices go on today. This epic from Wonder’s brilliant 1973 album, “Innervisions” captures the plight of a black man just trying to be his black self in the city. Long before people were talking about being “woke,” this was a wake-up call in 1975. “Wake up everybody/No more sleeping in bed/No more backward thinking/Time for thinking ahead,” sings Teddy Pendergrass at the beginning of this plea for a peaceful uprising.

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, “Wake Up Everybody” When he sings, “Take it from me, someday we’ll all be free,” your soul finds comfort - even if the black struggle to truly be free still goes on. Donny Hathaway, “Someday We’ll All Be Free”īlurring the lines between gospel and R&B, this 1973 beauty from the late, great Hathaway lifts your spirit in dark days, urging you to “keep your stride” as you march on fighting the good fight. But you can’t beat the classic title track, which sadly is even more relevant today than it was almost 50 years ago. Honestly, you could pick just about any song from Gaye’s 1971 opus “What’s Going On” - from “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” to “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” - and it would speak to these turbulent times. Here’s our own playlist of protest and black empowerment music to raise your fist and spirit this weekend. Meanwhile, Apple Music has a “For Us, By Us” playlist celebrating the work of black artists.

Jay-Z has released the “Songs for Survival Playlist 2” available exclusively on his Tidal streaming service to provide a sonic tonic to those fighting, marching and taking a knee for change.

In the wake of George Floyd’s death - and the Black Lives Matter movement that has intensified because of it - protest music is providing the soundtrack of the times once again.

Best tech n9ne songs about positivity