By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
The Dover Town Library proudly welcomed Pamela Means who presented ‘The Power of The Protest Song: Our Shared History & Present Day’ last Tuesday night. This powerful, family-friendly event was part-performance and mini presentation that explored the origin stories and lineages of protest songs. Means explained how the song's meanings and effects continue to transform through time and space, and how they have inspired – and continue to inspire – movements and cultural shifts within the realms of racial and social justice.
In addition to all this, Means also shared her own experiences with becoming an artist and using her voice to inspire change. She played a curated assortment of original songs and select, recognizable covers that went on to demonstrate how grounding, unifying, and mobilizing protest songs can be.
Many of the songs that Mean’s wrote herself were inspired by different events that had happened in our current world, including the George Floyd protests. Once could easily feel just how passionate and soulful Mean’s was while she performed; her words truly inspired and pleaded for a need for change. In one of her songs ‘Sing for Love,’ she expressed that no matter what is going on in the world, she will always “fight for justice, sing for love.”
This specific program was supported in part by a grant from the Dover Cultural Council, a local agency that is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. Means went on to explain how fortunate she was to be offered this grant and how amazing it feels to be performing once again to a crowd of people after a significant lull due to Covid-19. She further stated, “There is not really any soul when performing a zoom concert. So I am so happy to be back in front of you.”
One can only hope she will return again to the Dover Town Library for another incredibly moving performance.
