Crime, resistance and song: Black musicianship's black criminology

The use of art as resistance is well documented in academic scholarship. Gregerson (2007) acknowledged that taken for granted realities and histories are rewritten through lyrical poetic uses of pauses, words, and articulations. Ortiz and Raquel (2005, p. 107) explored the portfolio of Puerto Rican artist Alicea and concluded that he “successfully researches and rescues broken pieces of history to construct new images…he rewrites history through his portfolios, offering us a version of history that invites us to learn about and to question what has previously been written and presented” (Ortiz & Raquel, 2005, p. 107). Addressing black resistance through soul music, Yancy (2004, p. 289) explains that “style is the dynamic expression or articulation of the motif of overcoming…we need to move within the space of soul and style where our collective languaging is a commentary on both” (emphasis added).