Oscar Brown, Jr. was not a man easily defined. Labels like songwriter, composer, actor, singer, director, producer, playwright all fit, but not quite. He was also an activist, a visionary, and a social commentator. A vocalist whose technique was steeped in jazzy agility and swing, his performances were consistently witty, shrewd, musical and humane, and he wrote lyrics to several classic jazz anthems that sounded integral to them, rather than afterthoughts.

Born in Chicago, Brown’s father intended for him to follow in his footsteps and become a practicing lawyer, but influenced by the Harlem Renaissance as he was by the Civil Rights Movement, Brown had a desire to create and to communicate. In doing so he penned over 1,000 songs, recorded 11 albums, and wrote several plays.

A forerunner of the political consciousness that would become predominant in soul, funk, and hip-hop in the decades to follow, his efforts to exact social change spread across the arts and even into government, spurring two unsuccessful but memorable campaigns for office.

Of his work, Oscar Brown, Jr. said, “Our society is being bombarded with images designed to accustom it to horror and benumb all compassion … Therefore, I am launching a creative counter-attack. Where I confront hate, I will exemplify love. In the face of ugliness, I will present beauty. As an antidote to lies, I will reveal the truth. Boisterous, bellicose noises must be diminished by hip harmonies set to moving rhythms and messages.”

Though he never received the recognition many felt he deserved during his life, his music and words have had a continued influence on a whole new generation of artists and activists.

“Soundtrack to the Struggle” is hosted by Hollis Monroe. Produced by Ron Adkins. Executive Producer is Dennis Green.

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Actress/singer Abbey Lincoln and musician Max Roach attend the premiere of ‘For Love Of Ivy’ on July 16, 1968 at Loew’s Tower East Theater in New York City. (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

1956, and Abbey Lincoln stood poised to become jazz music’s next glamour star. She had just appeared in the film, The Girl Can’t Help It, wearing Marilyn Monroe’s flaming red dress from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Her stage presence was honed to accentuate her looks and figure, rather than her voice. None of this sat well with Lincoln, who remembered her life growing up in poverty. She fired her manager and moved to New York, and from then on immersed herself in the growing Civil Rights Movement. 

She met future husband, drummer Max Roach, while singing at the Village Vanguard. He introduced Lincoln to the jazz elite, and mentored her development as an activist and socio-political artist. She, Roach, Oscar Brown, Jr., and others began performing at rallies and fundraisers for the NAACP, CORE, and other Civil Rights organizations. In 1960, she collaborated on Roach’s masterpiece to the Struggle, “We Insist! Freedom Suite.”

Lincoln believed that her art and her activism were one and the same. “When everything is finished in a world,” she said, “the people look for what artists leave. It’s the only thing that we really have in this world – an ability to express ourselves and say, ‘I was here.’” Her lyrics, though charged with her social conscious, were steeped in sweet poetry. Next generation singers like Cassandra Wilson and Kendra Shank are adding the Lincoln catalogue to their repertoire, solidifying Abbey’s indelible mark on her world, and continuing her impact on the ongoing Struggle.

“Soundtrack to the Struggle” is hosted by Hollis Monroe. Produced by Ron Adkins. Executive Producer is Dennis Green.

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They crowned Jack Johnson the first Black heavyweight champion in 1908, but the fight had just begun. The Black community was overjoyed, seeing Johnson’s title as a major step toward equality. Whites i

n America, however, were often near panic. Even the New York Times wrote that “thousands of his ignorant brothers will misinterpret [Johnson’s] victory as justifying claims to more than physical equality.”

Calls went out for a “Great White Hope” to step into the ring and take away the crown. Each Johnson fight was met equally with parades, celebrations, and race riots. Johnson was aware of his impact on history and Ame

rican culture. He kept the public’s eye through bravado and by never letting people forget that a Black man was the Champ. This larger-than-life persona is perhaps Johnson’s lasting legacy, frightening to whites 

at the time, but today has inspired generations of African Americans.

More than a century later, Jack Johnson’s legacy – his rise to glory at the height of Jim Crow America continues on. James Earl Jones was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Johnson in “The Great White Hope.” Miles Davis recorded his album, “Tribute to Jack Johnson,” in 1971. Filmmaker Ken Burns produced “Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson” in 2004. The Champ appears in novels, films, songs, and even video games.

Here is Wynton Marsalis with “Jack Johnson Two-Step” from Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise of Jack Johnson.

“Soundtrack to the Struggle” is written and produced by Ron Adkins. Executive Producer Dennis Green. Hollis Monroe, host.

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