Former Rage Against The Machine leader and current Bruce Springsteen sideman Tom Morello was the draw for the “Ferguson Rocks” concert jointly organized by rapper/activist Talib Kweli and leaders from the frontline of the Ferguson uprising Saturday, August 8 at the Ready Room.
But those who came through saw genre-bending fusion that merged hip-hop, rock, reggae and poetry that sang of revolution.
Nationally renowned poet Jessica Care Moore served as mistress of ceremonies for the show that began with a performance by local hip-hop rock band Blank Generation.
Rapper and Baltimore native Son of Nun spoke to the struggles of his community in the wake of Freddie Gray’s death in compelling lyrics that connected the dots with Ferguson in “Fire Next Time.”
But the rock portion of the show truly began with Detroit native Steffanie Christi’an.
She could have been mistaken for an R&B songstress as she stepped to the stage, but the moment her band began to play it was obvious she was anything but that.
Christi’an is a black girl who rocks. She screamed at the top of her lungs while invading the personal space of those standing directly in front of the stage.
It was electrifying to watch as she played air guitar during solos and hopped around on stage the entire course of her set of songs from her soon-to-be-released debut album.
She also spoke to the heart of the protesters in the building with her cover of Bob Marley’s “War,” with lyrics from a speech in the UN by the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie.
“Until the philosophy which holds one man superior and another inferior is totally and permanently discredited and abandoned,” Christi’an belted as the audience sang along to Marley’s anthem. “Until the color of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes … everywhere is war.”
In lieu of an intermission, Moore delivered some of her poetry while backed by musicians. But she would demand complete silence as she recited work that reflected on Ferguson.
“I can’t breathe because now I’m being forced to lie face-down in cement in Ferguson with an AR-15 drawn at my back,” Moore said. “A tall brown teenage boy is shaking in Rosa’s lap. A big girl stands up anyway.”
The poem tied Michael Brown Jr., Eric Garner and the unrest that has taken place around the country as a response to the deaths of people of color at the hands of police.
“Who can push out fresh air anymore?” Moore recited. “The rich, the corporations? We should all be choking to death on Fox News and processed foods and white supremacy.”
Despite outward appearances, Band Outer National proved that they were anything but a run-of-the-mill rock band as their music issued a war cry against injustice.
“Most of this song was written by us, but the chorus was written by Eric Garner,” front man Miles Solay said before he started singing “This Stops Today.”
