Music’s Function During the Civil Rights Movement

The 1960’s was a decade of reckoning for America. The evils of segregation, Jim Crow, and general prejudice against black people in this country had finally come to a head, with a movement of black Americans who demanded to be treated equally. This became known as the Civil Rights movement. The film introduced us to many leaders of the movement, some who are still with us and some who aren’t. People like John Lewis who were alive then and protested, told stories of the horrors members of the movement had to endure while non-violently protesting for their own civil rights. These leaders all spoke of the importance and power that music held within the movement. They described music as being the one thing that their opponents could not take from them, they could not break their spirit as long as solidarity in song held it in tact. These songs came from Church Gospel Choirs, and from blues artists as well. They are a pillar of the creative achievement black people had reached already in America, but weren’t yet properly recognized for. These songs such as Wade in the Water and Let Freedom Ring were sung at marches and protests across the country, but mostly in the heavily segregated south where the spectre of racism was still most prominent. Protesters were antagonized and beaten by militarized police forces in these areas, whom had mostly full support of the politicians and population of the areas in the south they occupied. One woman in the film said, “they can break our bones, but they can’t break our spirit”. Since then, protest music has changed from its Gospel roots, but not entirely. The first example of a protest song becoming a part of the music charts was with Marvin Gaye’s seminal hit What’s Going On?. Another popular example of protest music is Bob Marley’s Get Up, Stand Up, where he sings of the need to stand up against racial injustice. Something that really stood out to me in this film was how easily many of the interviewees remembered every lyric and melody to those songs. It is a testament to the effect it had on them as people, and the power it held in the movement they were proudly a part of.