Marvin Gaye and Social Consciousness:

The Struggle Continues

Written by Kirsten West Savali, Contrib. Editor on April 1, 2012 4:14 pmClick for More

When the voice of Marvin Gaye was silenced forever by his father on April 1, 1984, when he shot and killed him in Los Angeles, CA, the world lost not only a brilliant talent, but a man in tune with the ills of the Black community.

Though such songs as “Distant Lover” and “Let’s Get It On” are still considered premiere blue light basement classics, and songs such as “Trouble Man”and “Hitchhike” are sure to make even the most rhythmically challenged want to get up and dance, it’s his socially conscious lyrics that still resonate with today’s generation, proving that pain, suffering, poverty and racial unrest are as American as apple pie.

Marvin’s music reflects the landscape of the late 1960s and early ’70s with a clarity that is as vivid as stepping into a painting that has come to life.

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As we continue to fight for justice for Rodney Stanberry, Trayvon Martin, Ramarley Graham and countless others who have fallen victim — whether by gunshots or the prison industrial complex — to the racism, inequality and violence that stand as cornerstones of the United States judicial and law enforcement systems,  what better time to ask: “What’s Going On?”

Inner City Blues/Make Me Wanna Holler

“What’s Going On?”
“Mercy, Mercy Me”
“Save The Children”
Tomorrow, April 2, as we celebrate Marvin’s birthday, let us all remember that there is rebirth from the ashes of struggle — but we must never give up the fight.