It has been a week since Americans elected Donald Trump for President of the United States. Many of us are still in shock, some Americans have started to ask themselves, how did we get here?

Around the country, college students are staging anti-Trump protests to demonstrate their outrage with the results of the election, and others have fallen victim to hate crimes. Even though President-Elect Donald Trump is now calling his supporters to 'stop it,' the polarizing rhetoric surrounding the Trump campaign, has already taken its toll on American society. We are slowly discovering that we haven’t come as far as we’d hoped.

Historically, adversity brings out the best in our artists. Challenging times inspire artists to create unprecedented material in their respective art forms. These next four years will be difficult for people in all parts of the globe, so we are bound to see an increase in the production of politically-charged and motivated music.

We are already starting to see the beginning of this as the perfectly timed new album by A Tribe Called Quest just released after a decade, which exemplifies the “essential protest music,” of a post-Trump election, many of us need.

We are lucky to live in a time where our access to music and other art forms is almost endless. Our opportunities to display our thoughts, opinions, and creations are limitless. Don’t allow the destructive and down-right random nature of President-Elect Donald Trump to prevent you from creating, and inspiring others to create a new dialogue.

Music has always played an important role in society. It has the ability to capture and display our emotions, as we enter these next four years, we’ll need great musicianship all the more.

Since this election has many of us thinking we are in 1966 rather than 2016, here are five 1960s Political Protest Songs that motivate me, despite the fear surrounding Trump’s Presidency, when they go low we can still go high.

Mississippi Goddam- Nina Simone 1964

This was written after the assassination of Medgar Evers and the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Alabama. It's an original piece by Simone original and it became a theme throughout the civil rights movement.

Give Peace A Chance: John Lennon 1969

It is the classic theme of the Anti-War Movement.

A Change Is Gonna Come: Sam Cooke 1965
This song came to embody the aspirations of the US Civil Rights struggle. It was covered by several Motown artists, but Sam Cooke’s remains the most prominent version.

Birmingham Sunday: Joan Baez 1964

Written based on the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing.

Star Spangled Banner Woodstock: Jimi Hendrix 1969