Pop Convergence 2021

Hope in Darkness: Music That Reclaimed Our Joy (Room B: Oscillator)

Every revolution has its soundtrack. Sometimes, resistance starts in a voting line, while dancing the “Cha Cha Slide.” Other times, it looks like defying a tyrant by staying at home, singing “WAP” so loudly, your neighbors want to hit that little dangly thing in the back of your throat. In this panel, journalists, educators, and musicians will explore the music that helped us reclaim our joy during a backdrop of death and destruction. We’ll discuss bands who taught us to take our power back, like Rage Against the Machine; the role Calypsos and Soca songs played in the attainment of human rights across the Caribbean; the transformative power of the poetry of artists like Hozier in song; and the musicians behind inspiring videos and TikTok challenges who gave us something to dance about. Our panelists will speak to the question: what can we learn from the music that changed the world?

The paper order will be: Threadgould, Schou, Sylvester, and Lynn.