Many of the songs that were involved with the Civil Rights Movement were derived from gospel hymns. For example the song “We Shall Overcome” came from the hymns “I’ll Overcome Someday” and “I’ll Be Alright”. The song emphasized the importance of equality and the need for new civil rights laws. The early version of the song “ We Shall Overcome”, then called “ We Will Overcome” was a church song sung by African Americans in the early 1900’s. Before the song came to be what we know it as today, people like Atron Twigg and gospel singer Kenneth Morris, added words and redid the musical parts. The song “ We Shall Overcome”, had became the “theme song” of the Civil Rights Movement, and people would remember the song for years to come.
We Shall Overcome was so popular and successful that even the president knew about the song! Two years after the March on Washington, where singer Joan Baez sang “We Shall Overcome” to the crowd. Lyndon B Johnson gave a speech just one week after the violence started in Selma. This speech on March, 15, 1965 was to address what had happened and also to talk about rights and equality. Johnson said “ There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem.", "And we are met here tonight as Americans--not as Democrats or Republicans; we're met here as Americans to solve that problem."
Johnson believed it was time to change what was happening throughout the nation. “ All men are created equal”, “ To apply any other test, to deny a man his hopes because of his color or race or his religion or the place of his birth is not only to do injustice, it is to deny Americans and to dishonor the dead who gave their lives for American freedom. Our fathers believed that if this noble view of the rights of man was to flourish it must be rooted in democracy. This most basic right of all was the right to choose your own leaders. The history of this country in large measure is the history of expansion of the right to all of our people.” At the end of the speech though is what made this speech so famous. Mr. President ended with the words “ We Shall Overcome” It inspired so many people including Dr. King. King’s family said they saw him cry for the first time… the music of the Civil Rights Movement was finally starting to speak to people.
On August 28, 1963 around two hundred and fifty thousand people of all ages gathered in the nation’s capital. The main reason they were there was to hear Dr. King's famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Everyone knows about the speech but nobody ever hears about the music. One of the singers was Joan Baez. Baez, the twenty-two year old singer of the song “Oh Freedom”, sang “We Shall Overcome,” to the crowd. We Shall Overcome had become the main song during the Civil Rights Movement. Mahalia Jackson also sung at the event. She was kind of like Dr. King's opening act. During King's speech Jackson made the comment “Tell them about the dream, Martin”. This was what encouraged him to stray from his prepared notes and into the improvised part of his speech. Jackson later sang “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” at Dr. Kings funeral. By the time the march ended the songs were known by everyone.
During the recent protesting in Charleston, South Carolina over the pay of blacks working in the tobacco industry, the protesters sang songs to uplift their spirits with the main song being “I Shall Overcome”. When the protesting ended in March of 1946 a few participants in the group such as woman named Anna Lee Bonneau, traveled to Highlander Folk School in Tennessee. Anna Lee Bonneau was a African American who wanted to share her love and passion of music with the school’s music director Zilphia Horton. Mrs. Horton and her husband immediately fell in love with the song and made it well known to others by holding mass meetings, where the song would be sung. Over the year’s, Zilphia introduced the song to countless people, including Pete Seeger who changed the name to “ We Shall Overcome”. Pete Seeger performed a live version of this song at the school’s 25th anniversary in 1957, which Dr. King attended. The next day he remarked “ That song really sticks with you, doesn’t it?” Perhaps “sticking with you” was the reason it became the main song of the Civil Rights Movement.
Many of the songs written during the civil rights period were based off of events. John Coltrane wrote the song “Alabama” in response to the 1963 Birmingham bombing. The song served as a eulogy to the young girls who died in the church. The song “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke, was inspired by an event where Cook and some of his friends got arrested for “disturbing the peace” after they were denied a room at a hotel, because they were black. Songs were also related to things from the bible. The lyrics to “People get Ready” by The Impressions encouraged people to hang onto their belief because the “Train to Jordan” would deliver them to a peaceful afterlife.
People turned to music a lot during the Civil Rights Movement. They sang to lift their spirits up and to voice their struggles. They didn’t fight back with fists and guns, their voices were their weapons. It was even more powerful because it showed that they had faith and weren’t giving up. I think we could all learn something from that.