Songs of Freedom

Music in the civil rights movement played a role I never knew. I am sure that almost anyone reading this will be familiar with the civil rights movement from the mid 1900s in the southern United States, but in my experience, less people know about the methods of protest and how this movement succeeded. Music was a pillar of this revolution. Leaders such as Martin Luther King and even the president at the time, Johnson, used lyrics in their speeches lobbying for equality. The interviewees in this documentary put it best when they said that music was the only thing the police could not take away and singing was the only thing they could not stop.

On the march from Selma to Montgomery, the protestors and members of the movement along with Dr King sang "Aint gon let nobody turn me around". Hymns were turned into protest pieces when police would bust into churches with dogs and the congregation would sing "I aint scared of your dogs, I want my freedom". The song " We shall not be moved. Like a tree planted by the water, we shall not be moved." was turned into "Wallace must be removed. Like a can of garbage in the alley, he must be removed.", in reference to the horribly racist governor of my home state of Alabama.

This piece of history is a dark but triumphant one. With peaceful protest and music, the African American citizens of the southern United States achieved legal equality and did this in a nonviolent way. This in no way ended the racism against them in the south which, to my horror, unfortunately still present today. However, with songs as a form of solidarity and a strong leader like Martin Luther King, change was made in the 1960s.

This is a playlist of songs of the civil rights movement:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veiJLhXdwn8&list=RDQM_TzP2qAjMzg