The Reverend Amos Brown speaking at a demonstration against the Iraq war, San Francisco, California, March 2007
Ramin Rahimian / Reuters

Hip-hop music can offer a window into the concerns of Black communities. “Our Soldiers,” a 2008 song by the American rapper KRS-One, opens with a siren. After those first few seconds, one might assume the track—like many other hip-hop songs—will be about policing in the United States. But as the lyrics unfold, it becomes clear that KRS-One will take on a different issue: the Iraq war. When the siren returns, he delivers his chorus: “Rest in peace to them soldiers on a two-year tour / Frontline of the political war / Troops flyin’ out to Iraq, sent home in a black

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