Hey America! : the epic story of Black music and the White House

Hey, America! is the story of how black music came from the margins of American life in the early twentieth century through to the mainstream under Barack Obama's presidency and then was mobilised as a force for radical opposition to Donald Trump's presidency. Embedded in the story is the triumph of black music over the many forces that had held it back – racism, segregation, undercapitalised record labels, media discrimination and political anxiety. Opening with President Obama's tribute to Prince, the author takes us through the spat between Louis Armstrong and President Eisenhower, Eartha Kitt's encounter with Lady Bird Johnson, the Vietnam War's influence on soul, James Brown's flirtation with Nixon, the impact of Hurricane Katrina, Ice-T's 'Cop Killer' scandal, Public Enemy and the rise of hip-hop, the Washington Wives versus 'porn rock', Kanye West running for presidency and many, many others. The book concludes with the dramatic stand-off between Trump and the Black Lives Matter movement. This is the untold story of black music – its triumph over racism, segregation, undercapitalised record labels, media discrimination and political anxiety – told through the perspective of the most powerful office in the world: from Louis Armstrong's spat with President Eisenhower and Eartha Kitt's stormy encounter with Lady Bird Johnson to James Brown's flirtation with Nixon, Reaganomics and the 'Cop Killer' scandal. Moving, insightful and wide-ranging, Hey America! charts the evolution of sixties soul from the margins of American society to the mainstream, culminating in the rise of urban hip-hop and the dramatic stand-off between Donald Trump and the Black Lives Matter movement. __Hey, America!__ is the story of how black music came from the margins of American life in the early twentieth century through to the mainstream under Barack Obama's presidency and then was mobilised as a force for radical opposition to Donald Trump's presidency. Embedded in the story is the triumph of black music over the many forces that had held it back – racism, segregation, undercapitalised record labels, media discrimination and political anxiety. Hey America! unearths the untold story of how successive presidents and their most senior aides recruited pop, rock and soul musicians to campaign for their election and help shape and represent public policy (often with disastrous consequences). It reveals a remarkable roller-coaster of social change.