Human Rights, Activism and Civility in Reggae Music: Critical Analysis of Lucky Dube’s Selected Songs

Abstract

Human rights issues have occupied a greater space in the media and many social situations globally. Several human rights activists have played various roles which include, promoting the right for humans in and outside Africa through writing, symposia, conferences, music and so on. Music is said to be life and much of human entertainment revolves around music. Political movements often influence the desire for music thus informing artists to bridge the gap around pop and political activism. If music is paired with a politically heavy plot, it leans to the right or to the left. This affects the ability of the song to receive full recognition and consideration. A strong interrelationship between art, music, and culture characterizes the background of world politics. Sometimes music plays not only the function of cultural identity but does become a key element in communicating and defining the political institutions of the world. This paper examined the impact of Lucky Dube’s selected reggae songs in promoting civilization, activism and human right issues in the society. It critically analyses Lucky Dube’s role as an activist for human rights and how these selected songs are used to convey the message to the oppressed. This study used a humanistic approach theory, which involves evaluating the effect of messages conveyed by music on the primary audience. The drawing and interpretation of observations and sense which is not a quantitative impact evaluation was important in this context.