On the Friday of Martin Luther King Day Weekend, we were thrilled to be joined by veteran singer-songwriter and resident Massachusetts badass Pamela Means for a version of her program “The Power of the Protest Song.”

Pamela is an out(spoken), biracial, independent artist whose “kamikaze” guitar style and punchy provocative songs have worn a hole in two of her acoustic guitars. Armed with the razor wit of a stand-up comic, an engaging presence, and elegant poetry, Pamela’s “stark, defiant songs” (The New York Times) set both the status quo and stage afire. Ani DiFranco says, “You groove so deep, I can’t get out. And I wouldn’t want to.”

Means’ commitment to interrogating social ills was fostered by her unique childhood. “As the adopted daughter of a white mother and black father, I learned about dismantling systems of oppression from the inside out.” Pamela received her first guitar at the age of fourteen, just after her mother died of cancer, and it soon became Pamela’s primary vehicle for expression. It would also serve as a passport out of a life that consisted of poverty, foster homes, and the inner city life of hyper-segregated Milwaukee WI.

Pamela relocated to Boston, busked in the city subway, founded her own record label, and began touring. She has since performed on three continents and across America, gaining fans and rave reviews wherever she goes. She has shared the stage with Pete Seeger, Neil Young, Shawn Colvin, Joan Baez, Richie Havens, Gil Scott-Heron, Adrian Belew, Violent Femmes, Holly Near, and many more. With truth as ammunition, she brings the fight for social justice and human dignity to the forefront of a new generation.