Musicians releasing EPs/Albums to Benefit Voting Rights and Georgia Senate Runoffs
Although the election is over, there are still two monumental, run-off campaigns happening in Georgia. Since neither of the Republican candidates drew a majority, Georgia's system prompts a rematch race where the top 2 candidates face off. The races are between Reverend Raphael Warnock vs. Kelly Loefler and Jon Osoff vs. David Perdue.
Traditionally, conservative candidates have performed much better in these run-off races (they've won the last 6/7). And that's not just a coincidence. According to an Interior Department report:
"...Georgia's runoff law was created in the 1960s as a way to preserve white political power in a majority-white state and diminish the influence of Black politicians who could more easily win in a multicandidate race with a plurality of the vote..." (Luke Broadwater, NYTimes).
Since the results will determine which party has control of the Senate, both sides are giving it all they've got. One aspect of this fight relates to the work musicians are doing to aid the the cause. In recent days, musicians have released albums/EPs/singles to help fundraise for Voting Rights groups like Stacey Abram's Fair Fight Organization. In fact, Abram's organization is planning a "Rock the Vote" exclusive concert on December 16th, 8:30 ET/5:30 PT. Some of the artists participating include Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Lin Manuel Miranda, Common, and John Legend.
It's good to see some of our favorite bands participate in activism. Music and political activism have been partners since literally forever. A 2017 article by Lidiya Yankovskay for Newmusic says it well:
"Amid the current proliferation of nativism across the industrialized world, musicians are uniquely positioned to convey the following simple message that we should all, as artists, understand: no matter who you are, where you are from, how much money you have, or what language you speak, you have inherent worth. We know this because we live it, every day. Musicians come from, and interact with, people from all walks of life. In our career trajectories, we often start at the very bottom of the economic ladder, barely able to make ends meet. Gradually, most move into the middle class and a small number go well beyond and join higher economic brackets. We go to dinners with donors who are the richest of the rich and then partake in outreach programs with the most at-need in our communities. Our work crosses linguistic barriers and we regularly interact with people from myriad cultures. We often travel to remote corners of the world to share our craft. We find ourselves performing at symposiums thrown by the intellectuals of academia as well as crossover pop-culture events. We work in schools, and most of us have taught people from across the cultural spectrum. We are given a unique window into the world and are provided the opportunity to escape our own echo chambers, whatever those may be."
In support of the Georgia run off elections and this kind of activism, we wanted to use the rest of the article to highlight the recent collaboration by Merge Records whose Bandcamp proceeds will go to Fair Fight.
Message from Merge Records: "We live in North Carolina, where a racist Republican legislature has worked for a generation to undermine democracy through unprecedented voter suppression. Our neighbors in Georgia have successfully fought back, through the efforts of Fair Fight and other organizations. The voters who turned Georgia blue in November can now elect Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, take back power in the Senate, and make true progress possible in this country. The Merge artists on this comp came together quickly, recording in various quarantine situations, to pay tribute to their favorite artists from Georgia, or maybe just record their favorite songs with "Georgia" in the title, and to support those working hard in Georgia to make sure everyone's voice is heard."