Empathy for the Enemy and the Oppressed: Political Pop Songs from the Eighties

Themes of love, loss and the other trials of our personal lives have been the mainstay of popular music for centuries. But in every generation there are pop artists who have taken on that other great theme called politics, responding to current events and instances of injustice both domestic and global, and bringing often controversial issues to the attention of the young people who make up their audience.

Growing up in Macedonia in the 1980s, my awareness of global politics was very much influenced by pop music, as a number of A-list artists during that era released huge hits addressing political issues, some of which were considered quite controversial at the time.

Police documentary sneak peek 1: Speak Friend And Enter

A sneak peek of the police misconduct documentary Speak Friend and Enter, filmed and produced by Isiah Holmes. This is just one of three shorts which proceeded the releasing of the finial film.

Speak Friend And Enter investigates reports of misconduct committed by Wisconsin’s Wauwatosa Police Department, near Milwaukee. The film looks into the departments longstanding reputation for racial discrimination, it’s participation in several large scale teen drug use crackdowns, and the introduction of a policy of withholding arrest information, keeping the community in the dark. The fully re-edited film is available on YouTube as well as Sleeper Cells.

Police documentary sneak peek 2: Speak Friend And Enter

The film looks into the departments longstanding reputation for racial discrimination, it’s participation in several large scale teen drug use crackdowns, and the introduction of a policy of withholding arrest information, thus keeping the community in the dark.

Speak Friend And Enter (Police Documentary 2015)

Speak Friend And Enter investigates reports of misconduct committed by Wisconsin’s Wauwatosa Police Department, near Milwaukee. The film looks into the departments longstanding reputation for racial discrimination.