Alright, raise your hand if you've ever been declared an unlawful assembly. Wasn't until 2020 that I managed to check that off my bucket list, that summer it didn't take much to accomplish though, managed it on multiple occasions. Since it's Tuesday that means tunes, today's three tracks were selected for how well they go with tear gas.
Don't think it's legal to write about riotous music without starting with April 29, 1992 by Sublime. The track is about the Rodney King riots, which were touched off on April 29, 1992 by the acquittal of the cops videotaped beating the hell out of Mr. King. I was too young to remember much of that so when I stumbled upon this tune years later it was something of an introduction to those goings on. Must admit, listening to it made me a bit jealous that they got to participate in something like that. The song was an instant favorite of mine, now that I've had my own run-ins with urban unrest it's even more special to me. Even if the only thing I took during the unrest here was photos.
Towards the end of that first tune Sublimes gives shout outs to the places that rose up in 1992, the second tune does the same for that long hot summer of 2020. Alabama 3 is probably my favorite British band, so when they gave Louisville a shout in Yolanda it was something special.
This final tune is special in a different way. Bow For Breonna is by C Tez, who was a constant presence at the protests here in Louisville in 2020. Would say I marched with C Tez many times but it was more dancing on his part. The video is the closest thing to a digital flashback I've seen, it was filmed in the middle of that long hot summer and starts with a chant being led by Travis Nagdy, an activist who would be shot and killed just a few months later.
Photos are from May 29th and September 23rd, 2020, two of those unlawful assembly occasions. The photo above is from the latter evening, when we were doing what we though was the bugout boogie. A few minutes later somebody shot a couple cops and suddenly that phrase took on a whole new meaning. On that note, I should probably skedaddle.
