On August 9, 2014, Micheal Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.
Brown’s murder and the fact that the officer who killed him never faced charges resulted in several protests. One of those protests which took place in Los Angeles, California was attended by singer-songwriter Moses Sumney.
In response to the protests he wrote “Rank & File”. The galvanizing anthem has been a staple of his live performances for a while. He recently released the studio version which will appear as the closing track on his upcoming 3 song EP, Black in Deep Red, 2014, which will be released on August 10, 2018.
All three tunes on the EP are in response to the events in Ferguson. In a press statement, Sumney made the following statement: “I took to the mountains soon after that and wrote these songs, wondering if power was a transferable device that could change hands through the vocalizing of unrest.”
“Rank & File” harkens back to classic civil rights tune with it urgent call and response delivery. The lyrics are a fiery indictment of what Sumney views as a “police state.”
He also addresses the systemic racism which contributes to a climate of police murdering unarmed black people with the line: “If we make you nervous / What is your purpose / Worship your trigger/ And ignore the figures.”
Also the fallout from Micheal Brown’s murder continues. On August 7, 2018, St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch lost his bid for reelection to Wesley Bell. Bell campaigned on a platform of justice reform which included not seeking the death penalty, eliminating cash bail for nonviolent offenses and opposing legislation that would create mandatory minimum sentences for certain crimes. To many, this was viewed partly as an indictment on McCulloch’s mishandling of Brown’s murder.
Hopefully this is a sign that the voices that are crying out for justice are finally being heard. Artists like Sumney are also playing an important role in “the vocalizing of unrest.”