Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso

Abstract

This final project investigates how Black music, especially Marvin Gaye's 1971 album "What's Going On," functioned as an instrument of cultural resistance and political-religious expression in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. The research analyzes the historical context of Black American music, its African roots, and its intersection with Black Protestantism and the civil rights movements. The music is interpreted as an expression of the African-American experience, blending social denunciation, spirituality, and cultural identity. The author discusses the importance of gospel as a language of resistance and a community base among African-Americans, particularly during the Great Migration and the struggle against Jim Crow laws. Marvin Gaye's work is presented as an aesthetic and political synthesis of this process, reflecting on issues such as racism, war, faith, and social inequality. The analysis of the album is supported by theoretical frameworks such as Hobsbawm, Zinn, and Marovich. The work also defends the use of music as a legitimate historical source, based on studies and cultural analysis. Thus, he proposes a methodological approach that articulates lyrics, sound, performance, context, and reception. Finally, the author adopts an emotional and identity-based stance, being Black, Christian, and a musician himself, which reinforces the personal and collective value of the research.