Tunes For Trayvon - Or - Where's the 21st Century Bob Dylan?

Yesterday I heard Steel Pulse' " Put Your Hoodies On" which says, among other things:
I'm go break it down-I don't understand it really - Imagine that was me -
That was walking with my hoodie
Another young life straight-Taken from a bullet - or should I say bully?
Trayvon attacked him? But how could he?
When all the evidence never added up fully...
Ain't no doubt in Jim Crow's South
Won't shut my mouth - its all about the hoodies"
It was written by singer David 'Dread' Hines as a "..plea for justice" who goes on to say:" We sensed the result but despite the outcome of the trial, the truth remains the truth and the ghost of justice will haunt this town of Sanford,Florida-forever."

I still remember the impact a young Bob Dylan had on me in the Sixties with " Oxford Town", documenting the state of Mississippi's staunch determination to keep James Meredith from getting a college degree, Bob pointing out:
Oxford town-Oxford town
Everybody's walkin' with their heads bowed down
Don't even know why we come
Better go back to where we come from
So where are the protest songs of today - the ones documenting the environmental mega-disasters like Exxon Valdez or BP in the Gulf, or bemoaning the fact that we are still in Afghanistan or complaining about the NSA surveillance program ? True, there are some gangsta rap songs that bitch about not having enough bling or a pimped out ride, but it seems the long standing American musical tradition of "social commentary" songs is dying out. The Dust Bowl laments and workingman's tunes of Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger seem quaint compared to flash mobs and cyberattacks.

As far as tributes to Trayvon are concerned, Stevie Wonder says he'll no longer perform in any state with "Stand Your Ground" laws, Bruce Springsteen dedicated "American Skin" to Trayvon at a concert in Ireland, and both Beyonce and Jay Z met Trayvon's mother at a New York rally. The weirdest musical moment connected to the verdict happened in California when 73 year old Lester Chambers of the legendary Chambers Brothers was attacked onstage when he dedicated a song to Martin. According to eyewitnesses, a forty three year concert goer in Hayward, California jumped onstage , screaming "It's all your fault" before hitting Chambers.

Protest songs are not entirely dead; they will always be alive and well in coffeehouses and the small venues that still support folk music. I'm just waiting to see who is going to fill Bob Dylan's shoes