Holly Near

"Protest Music as Responsible Citizenship"

Friday, Oct. 27, 2006
4 p.m.
Mershon Center for International Security Studies
1501 Neil Ave., Columbus, OH 43201

Sponsored by the Institute for Collaborative Research and Public Humanities. This event is open to the public. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to Elizabeth Lantz.

Holly Near will be on hand to answer questions after a screening of the Mershon-sponsored documentary Protest Music As Responsible Citizenship. This film focuses on how music helps construct the political consciousness of a nation, how songs mobilize thousands of people around issues affecting American life, and how music addresses the role of America in the global context.

Protest Music As Responsible Citizenship brings together Near, Harry Belafonte, Bernice Johnson Reagon, and Pete Seeger, four musicians who have played key public roles in the past decades. Through their songs, stories, and actions, these musicians have enacted their citizenship by voicing a challenging call. They have risked their careers and their lives to voice dissent. Protest Music as Responsible Citizenship explores how protest music and protest itself can be considered responsible citizenship.

Holly Near
Singer, activist