LOS ANGELES (AP) – When MTV’s “Rebel Music” debuted last year, the globe-trotting documentary series searched out passionate young artists driving change in hotspots including Egypt and Afghanistan.
This time around, it stays close to home with Native American activists. There’s Frank Waln, a hip-hop artist seeking to protect the environment and his heritage, and pop musician Inez Jasper, demanding attention for women’s rights and safe harbor from violence.
Musicians Nataanii Means, son of American Indian Movement activist Russell Means, and Mike Clifford, working together to foster hope and fight suicide among Native American youngsters, also are featured in the series, debuting 4 p.m. EST Thursday on MTV’s Facebook page.
“The music is my shield and my weapon,” Waln, a Sioux Indian from the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, says with touching determination in the film.
“Rebel Music: Native America” will air later this week and next on channels including MTV2 and mtvU, and will be made available free for downloading or streaming on iTunes, Hulu and other platforms. It’s the first long-form MTV program to debut on Facebook, the network said.