Music in Civil Rights Movement.•*¨*•.¸¸♬

Civil Rights Movement was a powerful movement in American history. The ancestors of African Americans were brought to North America as slaves hundreds of years ago, and they weren't treated as human beings at that time. Although their legal rights were extended after the civil war, and the 14th Amendment states that all persons born in the US were extended equal protection under the laws of the Constitution. The "separate but equal" doctrine and segregation still prevented them from having rights that white people have. Segregation simply divide people into "colored" and "white", and "colored" people had to attend separate schools, drink from separate water fountains, sit at different areas in restaurants and buses. They even had to swear on separate Bibles. However, African Americans did not stop fighting. From the Montgomery Bus Boycott to the Little Rock Nine, from the Greensboro sit-ins to the Freedom Rides, and from the March on Washington to the Freedom Summer, and finally in Selma, they were fighting against segregation and racial discrimination together. Many of them were put in prison, some were killed, and some lost their family members and friends, but finally the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act were signed in 1964 and 1965, which brought real civil rights and voting rights to African Americans.

In Civil Rights Movement, music played an important role. African Americans did not use violence in the movement, they used music instead. They took music from black church, as everyone knew the melodies. No matter how old a person was, no matter where he or she came from, everyone can sing. They were singing during the sit-ins, they were singing while marching, they were singing on buses to Washington, they were even singing while arrested. Singing was a unique way of fighting in the movement. Harry Belafonte said that “you can cage the singer but not the song”. Those songs brought them courage when they were beaten and arrested, because they knew that they weren't alone through the songs. 

For example, the key anthem of the movement was a song called “We Shall Overcome”. It was originally a gospel, but lately used as a labor song. Guy Carawan introduced this song to the Civil Right Movement in 1959, and in 1960, over 300 thousand people sang this song at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington. Even President Johnson used “we shall overcome” in his speech after “bloody Sunday”. This song was spread to the world later, and brought strength to other people who were fighting for their freedom.

Another song is Go Tell It on the Mountain. It is also an African American spiritual. It was rewritten in 1963 as “Tell It on the Mountain” by the musical team Peter, Paul And Mary. "Let my people go" in the lyrics referred to the Civil Rights Movement, and this song uses Biblical analogies and the story of Moses freeing the Jews from Egypt as an analogy for Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement. The original lyrics was:

Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born

While shepherds kept their watching
Over silent flocks by night
Behold throughout the heavens
There shone a holy light

Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born

The shepherds feared and trembled
When lo! above the earth
Rang out the angels chorus
That hailed the savior's birth

Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born

Down in a lowly manger
The humble Christ was born
And god sent us salvation
That blessed Christmas morn'

Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

During the movement, some musicians used the phrase “Set my people free” instead “Jesus Christ Is Born.”

More Civil Rights songs：http://newsone.com/1460645/top-10-civil-rights-protest-songs-of-all-time/

The Civil Rights Movements ended in 1968 and African Americans earned their rights in the end. But musicians do not stop writing and singing because there were still injustice in society and there are still people fighting for opportunities, freedom and justice. Sweet Honey In the Rock is one of the musicians. They use their songs to fight against immigration injustices, congressional greed, racial issues and women's issues. For example, their song “Are We A Nation?” shows their concern to Arizona's controversial immigration law.