In the Spirit, In the Dark

Black Music and Political Activism

Najja K. Baptist

• Publisher: NYU Press
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN:
  9781479820344
• eBook ISBN:
  9781479820351
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music Theory & Appreciation

How Black music shapes the political identity, consciousness, and engagement of Black youth

From Rihanna and Kendrick Lamar to J. Cole and Janelle Monae, Najja K. Baptist shows us how Black music has, more than ever before, become a form of political participation and resistance that has socialized and mobilized a new generation of Black youth, leading them to enter and remain engaged with large-scale activist movements.

Drawing on surveys with hundreds of youth, interviews with artists and activists, and in-depth content analysis, Baptist shows us how the creation and consumption of Black music has made movements like Black Lives Matter possible. As Black music both responds to and educates its listeners about catalytic political events like police killings, it simultaneously heightens, develops, and sustains the political consciousness of Black youth, particularly in the age of social media. Baptist finds that music predicts—and further shapes—their larger public attitudes toward government, political leaders, and policies, in addition to encouraging more traditional forms of political participation, such as organizing and attending protests.

Ultimately, Baptist invites us into the fascinating, often-hidden space where young Black political consciousness is born and cultivated, driving many to become agents of change.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• 1. Gon, Through the Fire and the Flood: Concepts and Definitions
• 2. Stir Up the Gift: Unpacking the Wardrobe Theory
• 3. Politics in the Key of Life: Stevie Wonder’s Activism and the MLK Holiday
• 4. You Gotta Move When the Spirit Says Move: BLM, Mochella, and Afrochella
• 5. I Got a Testimony: Students, Protest, and Intergenerational Conflict
• 6. The Better Benediction: Concluding the Matter of Black Music and Activism
• Acknowledgments
• Appendix A: Interview Transcripts from Subject Area Experts
• Appendix B: Survey Instrument and Script
• Appendix C: Student Consciousness and Event Awareness Regression
• Bibliography
• Discography
• Index
• About the Author