Music, Racism, History and the Struggle for Rights

The issue of racism has long been present in music. In different ways and in different contexts, artists addressed it – sometimes explicitly, sometimes in abstract ways. This presentation and discussion will examine the persistence and trajectory of discrimination in and around music but also the liberating medium that music can be on this social question both for the artist and for the audience.

Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou and Davide Rodogno are professors of international history and politics at the Geneva Graduate Institute where they teach and research on the international history of racism. In 2021, they conducted a course for Google on racism, and in 2022 released a study for the City of Geneva on the legacy of racism and colonialism in the public space.