The award is given to artists from any medium who carry on the legacy of its namesake by speaking “for the voiceless with an understanding of how a platform can be used to shine a light on our world, showing us what needs to be fixed and how to fix it.”
Gallery Credit: Jeff Deminski
Johnny 99
Now Judge I got debts no honest man could pay
The bank was holding’ my mortgage and they was taking’ my house away
Now I ain’t sayin’ that makes me an innocent man
But it was more ‘n all this that put that gun in my hand
Born In The USA
I had a brother at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone
The River
Then I got Mary pregnant
And man, that was all she wrote
And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
We went down to the courthouse
And the judge put it all to rest
No wedding day smiles, no walk down the aisle
No flowers, no wedding dress
Jack of All Trades
The banker man grows fat, the working man grows thin
It's all happened before and it'll happen again
It'll happen again, yeah, they'll bet your life
I'm a Jack of all trades, darling, we'll be alright
41 Shots
41 shots, Lena gets her son ready for school
She says, "On these streets, Charles
You've got to understand the rules
If an officer stops you promise me you'll always be polite
And that you'll never ever run away
Promise Mama, you'll keep your hands in sight
State Trooper
Maybe you got a kid,
maybe you got a pretty wife
The only thing that I got's been botherin' me my whole life
Mister state trooper, please don't stop me
Meeting Across the River
Hey Eddie, this guy, he's the real thing
So if you want to come along
You gotta promise you won't say anything
Cause this guy don't dance
And the word's been passed this is our last chance
We gotta stay cool tonight, Eddie
Cause man, we got ourselves out on that line
And if we blow this one
They ain't gonna be looking for just me this time
And all we gotta do is hold up our end
Here stuff this in your pocket
It'll look like you're carrying a friend
And remember, just don't smile
Change your shirt, cause tonight we got style
My Hometown
In '65 tension was running high at my high school
There was a lot of fights 'tween the black and white
There was nothing you could do
Two cars at a light on a Saturday night
In the back seat there was a gun
Words were passed, then a shotgun blast
Troubled times had come to my hometown
Used Car
My dad he sweats the same job from mornin' to mornin'
Me I walk home on the same dirty streets where I was born
Up the block I can hear my little sister in the front seat blowin' that horn
The sounds echo'in all down Michigan Avenue
Now mister the day my number comes in
I ain't ever gonna ride in no used car again