American singer-songwriters are taking up the protest torch like their forebears Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Joan Baez, releasing tracks featuring searing criticism of Donald Trump and homage to Minneapolis residents killed this month by federal immigration agents.
Eighty years after folk icon Guthrie scrawled “This Machine Kills Fascists” on his guitar, his musical heirs are savaging President Donald Trump on his immigration crackdown, his renamed Department of War, the US attack on Venezuela, Republican opposition to health care subsidies, and Washington’s glaring failure to tackle American poverty.
This week, after two US citizen residents of Minneapolis were fatally shot in January by federal officers, folk and protest singers unveiled scalding musical assaults on the establishment.
A musical collective called the Singing Resistance has taken to the streets and churches of Minneapolis, singing about love and community but also about their call to “abolish ICE,” the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency at the heart of aggressive operations in the Minnesota city and elsewhere.
Other protest singers are embracing today’s most reliable pathway to getting music into young people’s ears: Instagram and TikTok.
“Genuine American Hero,” a folksy, guitar-driven track by little-known musician Joseph Terrell about the death of Renee Good at the hands of a federal agent, has quickly become an anti-ICE anthem, generating millions of views online.
“He keeps us safe and snatches us inside our homes and offices, yes he’s a genuine American hero,” Terrell sneers of Good’s killer who “shot her in the face in her SUV.”
“I wrote it on Monday because I’d been stewing in anger about ICE,” Terrell posted on Instagram, adding he was stunned by the reception it received.
“I’m glad it’s been reaching yall as we try and make sense of this moment.”
– ‘Join ICE’ –
Folk musician Jesse Welles has been reaching a far larger audience. Over the past year, the shaggy-haired guitarist and singer has emerged as a modern-day protest troubadour, collaborating with Baez, selling out concert halls, and soaring to rarified fame on social media.
His songs’ videos have racked up more than 200 million views on TikTok alone. He has been nominated for four Grammy’s this year, including Best Folk Album.
“Join ICE, boy ain’t it nice. Join ICE, take my advice. If you’re lacking control and authority, come with me and hunt down minorities,” Welles, 33, sings in a satirical twang.
With civil unrest and outrage churning in Minnesota and elsewhere, some established musical stars, most notably Bruce Springsteen, are getting in on protest art.
On Wednesday the rock icon released “Streets of Minneapolis,” a fiery song about the fatal shootings there and “King Trump’s private army” wearing “occupiers’ boots” as they carry out the president’s mass deportation campaign.
Some emerging artists have parlayed ferocious ICE criticism into a growing following, including country singer Bryan Andrews, who has garnered millions of views on TikTok for his songs and outspoken commentary about the conservative MAGA movement, ICE raids and the killings in Minneapolis.
But mainstream country music, with its conservative legacy, is less likely to embrace protest calls to arms, especially after star Zach Bryan faced backlash last year for his politically charged “Bad News.”
The song offered not-so-subtle condemnation of ICE operations and earned criticism in Nashville — and reproach from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who called the track “completely disrespectful.”
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