Village Ghetto Land

Civil Rights and Black Liberation movement inspired artists such as Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder to express social commentary in their music. Stevie Wonder expresses social issues in all of his songs but, the two songs I am going to talk about are “Big Brother” (1972) and “Village Ghetto Land” (1976). In his song “Big Brother” accuse the government of spying and killing African American leaders. “Village Ghetto Land” invites the politicians to see the inner city of families suffering from starvation. Both songs reveal the hardships that African Americans face as a result of deception, abuse, and neglect by government. The song “Big Brother” came from author George Orwell “Nineteen Eighty Four” (1949) fictional totalitarian state of indicating their will be totalitarianism in the near future. George Orwell novel indicate the readers in 1949 about a possibility of the government intruding citizens privacy. “Big Brother” deeply expresses the cruelty the citizen’s face in the poor inner city struggling for hopelessness. The politicians manipulate the citizen’s mind to get their vote on Election Day,

The song “Big Brother” talks about the government not caring about the lower class citizens only when it is Election Day by getting their vote. The poor in the inner city feel unworthy of not having equal rights as American citizens. “My name is nobody” (line 7). The abuse of power not only reveal in “Big Brother” it also talks about it in “Village Ghetto Land” is a village about the citizens feel uneasy in a dangerous place that is not safe “See people lock their doors” (line 5). The citizens fear of violence and not able to protect theirselves from life or death situations of vandalism and medical attention. For example, “Children play with rusted cars/Sores cover their hands” (line