Katie Rios is associate professor of music history at the Townsend School of Music at Mercer University.

Borrowing her title from Childish Gambino’s music video “This Is America"—and using that video as a starting point—Rios discusses the fight for social justice in the US as conveyed through work by contemporary musicians and artists. Repeated symbols and gestures used to convey the underlying meaning of music, and other art works, serve as encoded elements of resistance and amplify the meaning of each featured artist’s words…. Relying extensively on rap, as well as blue notes, Caribbean rhythms, and call-and-response, Miranda uses familiar Black music traditions, sarcasm, and humor to energize Ron Chernow’s eponymous biography of Hamilton. Hamilton and the other works Rios features serve as calls to action, urging modern listeners to “look around” and “rise up” to address social injustices. Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.

• Chapter 1: “We’re Drowning in Our Own Stories”: Laurie Anderson’s Call to Artists and Her Performance Art as a Commentary on Current American Democracy Chapter 2: “At the Intersection’ of Racism and Sexism”: The Encoded Resistance and Social Activism of Beyoncé, Rhiannon Giddens, and Janelle MonáeChapter 3: “We the People”? Hip Hop As Resistance in the Trump EraChapter 4: ‘“Look Around”, “History Is Happening”: Heterogenous Topics in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton

Katie Rios is associate professor of music history at the Townsend School of Music at Mercer University.

Borrowing her title from Childish Gambino’s music video “This Is America"—and using that video as a starting point—Rios discusses the fight for social justice in the US as conveyed through work by contemporary musicians and artists. Repeated symbols and gestures used to convey the underlying meaning of music, and other art works, serve as encoded elements of resistance and amplify the meaning of each featured artist’s words…. Relying extensively on rap, as well as blue notes, Caribbean rhythms, and call-and-response, Miranda uses familiar Black music traditions, sarcasm, and humor to energize Ron Chernow’s eponymous biography of Hamilton. Hamilton and the other works Rios features serve as calls to action, urging modern listeners to “look around” and “rise up” to address social injustices. Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.

• Chapter 1: “We’re Drowning in Our Own Stories”: Laurie Anderson’s Call to Artists and Her Performance Art as a Commentary on Current American Democracy Chapter 2: “At the Intersection’ of Racism and Sexism”: The Encoded Resistance and Social Activism of Beyoncé, Rhiannon Giddens, and Janelle MonáeChapter 3: “We the People”? Hip Hop As Resistance in the Trump EraChapter 4: ‘“Look Around”, “History Is Happening”: Heterogenous Topics in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton

Katie Rios is associate professor of music history at the Townsend School of Music at Mercer University.

Borrowing her title from Childish Gambino’s music video “This Is America"—and using that video as a starting point—Rios discusses the fight for social justice in the US as conveyed through work by contemporary musicians and artists. Repeated symbols and gestures used to convey the underlying meaning of music, and other art works, serve as encoded elements of resistance and amplify the meaning of each featured artist’s words…. Relying extensively on rap, as well as blue notes, Caribbean rhythms, and call-and-response, Miranda uses familiar Black music traditions, sarcasm, and humor to energize Ron Chernow’s eponymous biography of Hamilton. Hamilton and the other works Rios features serve as calls to action, urging modern listeners to “look around” and “rise up” to address social injustices. Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.

• Chapter 1: “We’re Drowning in Our Own Stories”: Laurie Anderson’s Call to Artists and Her Performance Art as a Commentary on Current American Democracy Chapter 2: “At the Intersection’ of Racism and Sexism”: The Encoded Resistance and Social Activism of Beyoncé, Rhiannon Giddens, and Janelle MonáeChapter 3: “We the People”? Hip Hop As Resistance in the Trump EraChapter 4: ‘“Look Around”, “History Is Happening”: Heterogenous Topics in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton