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How Did Music Affect The Civil Rights Movement

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Throughout time music helped change the social, economic, and political view of society. Many artists during history influenced the changes in society bringing people together and empowering their movements, most of these songs have significant and powerful meaning behind them. The Civil Rights Movement started with Rosa Parks and it became a fight for black americans fighting for the right of a citizen of the United States, speeches and protests were how society expressed their feelings. Speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and President Johnson quote the song “We Shall OverCome” by an anonymous artist , the song was also performed by Joan Baez in the Lincoln Memorial, all of these affected the movement in societies views. The song “We Shall Overcome” became the ever so famous protest song for the Civil Right Movement. Throughout history, songs of protest impacted movements, unification, and politics. During the Civil Rights Movement “We Shall Overcome” …show more content…

On March 15th 1965,after the Bloody Sunday Attacks in Capitol Hill President Johnson gave his speech to Congress. In his speech he urged Congress to pass the voting right legislation. Johnson then cited the ever so popular Civil Rights anthem “We Shall Overcome”. Johnson said “Because it is not just Negroes, but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice--and we shall overcome (Johnson, 1965).” When President Johnson said “We shall overcome” Martin Luther King was in a home at Selma watching the speech with other people whom “none of whom had ever, during all the hard years, seen King cry (Caro, ‘When LBL….)” cried out of happiness while he was at a home in Selma. When Johnson came back to the White House the wave protesters who were protesting not to pass the legislation were gone. On August 6th President Johnson signed the “Voting Rights

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On August 28th, 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King held one of the most powerful and influential speeches in human history. The speech was held in front of more than 200 000 people and concerned the injustices of discrimination of African Americans which was taking place in the United States at the time. In his first statement he says: “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.” With this introduction Mr. King firmly states what the essence of his speech will be.

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“We shall overcome” is a speech by Lyndon Baines Johnson on March 15, 1965. This speech took place one week after Selma. “We shall overcome” was created to convince the Members of Congress, into joining him in his fight against racism by approving a bill meant to abolish racist voting restrictions. Lyndon Johnson’s speech to convince Members of congress to help him pass a bill to abolish racist voting restrictions by using a strong tone to create the sense that what he was saying was important, and in his speech he used Pathos and Logos to make the crowd feel sympathy for the black community because of the harsh truth.

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Americans have lost their lives for centuries in exchange for our nation’s freedom, but is every citizen really free? President Lyndon B. Johnson addressed congress following a police beat down during a peaceful protest in Selma, Alabama. The protest led by Martin Luther King became a turning point in American history; attacks on African American’s at Selma sparked reason in the eyes of many. Johnson used his address to Congress as a call to action, his goal was to ensure freedom and equality for all citizens; they shall not face persecution for the color of their skin. “We Shall Overcome” suggests that the text focuses on the constitutionality of the police beat down in Selma, Alabama and the concern of how our nation will overcome the issues of racism.

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Some songs were sung when someone was killed, so they were reflective of the sadness. Other songs were festive and sung during a victory. In this way, music played a big part in the Civil Rights Movement, allowing those involved to communicate with passerby what they were feeling and what they wanted to say. In addition, some may differ in

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The 1960s was a tumultuous decade for the United States. Along with the escalation of the Vietnam War, this decade was rocked by the Civil Rights movement and the second wave of the Feminist movements, creating an immense amount of social tension. As a result, people turned to politically-charged music, predominantly Rock n’ Roll, to release their frustrations. However, an equally important musical genre, Soul, was left in the background. Despite the fact that Soul music was not as popular in the United States, artists such as Aretha Franklin released many politically-charged songs that advocated for social justice.

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“Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.” Fortunately, King’s and other people’s hope was completed but it wasn’t an easy task to do. During the time King was writing the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, the African-American Civil Rights Movement was proceeding. Men and Women were protesting for the equal rights of “colored people”, to overcome racial injustice in the USA and Martin Luther King Jr. was a major part of it. He was one of the main leaders of this movement; this

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“We shall overcome,” sang the black children of Birmingham, Alabama. On May 2 1963 the Children's March of Birmingham, Alabama started. Over 3000 kids were involved and most ended up in jail. To this day the march has changed how the world looks at black children's rights. The children's march has lead up to what now is called the civil rights act which has also changed our world today.

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Swing has also helped people come together not only to listen, but also to play. It was during the time of the civil rights movement that swing was created and popularized. While the African Americans had their freedom, they were still largely unaccepted and segregated. Even though swing did not fix the segregation part of the world, it did bring blacks and whites together in interesting ways. Swing was first introduced by black musicians.

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The aforementioned example of Rosa Parks was just one small step in the journey of ending racial segregation and discrimination, and demanding actual equality for all Americans regardless of the color of their skin. Every sequential individual social movement, whether it was a boycott or a peaceful protest or just an individual fighting for her or his human right to equality, fueled the momentum of The Civil Rights Movement until it was too big to be ignored. The voices of those who were oppressed could finally be heard and bring about

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From singing old Negro spirituals around the plantations to now sharing their feelings, celebrations, problems, and struggles worldwide over the internet and hundreds of different radio stations. African Americans and their culture have come a long way over these pass decades. We all have borrowed aspects from the Afro-American culture whether it be fashion, literature, or music. The world famous Stax’s Museum of American Soul Music, located in Memphis, TN, is a wonderful museum that shares the stories of African American artist on the come up through the Civil Rights Movement to present day. Stax shows off their talented vocal abilities, groove lyric writing, and memorable style throughout the decades.

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Jeannette Shackelford Duane Watson Engl 1302 02Febuary 2015 Press Hard For the Power to Vote In the speech “We Shall Overcome”, the speech was written by Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president of the United States, the speech was addressed to Congress on voting legislation and to the United States as a whole. The speech was given on March 15, 1965 in an era where there was much bigotry, racial violence against blacks. The speech was televised a week after the after math of the deadly violence that had erupted in Salem Alabama, which was supposed to be a peaceful protest, that was given by the Negros a protest for equal rights to vote, turned into a violent protest.

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Despite the controversy surrounding it, Mississippi Goddam is still considered an important song for the Civil Rights Movement and served as an effective means of protest

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Introduction: The civil rights movement of 1954-1968 has made a huge impact on the history of African-American equality. All the great leaders of the movement have gone down in history for their courageous work and outstanding commitment to the civil rights movement. One of the most famous of the activists was Martin Luther King Junior (1929-1968) . King is still remembered today for his legendary speech entitled “I had a dream”.

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Protest songs played important roles during the Civil Rights Movement giving people hope and outlook for a better tomorrow. Famous ones were Bob Dylan’s “Blowin in the Wind” or “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke. These songs were products of the disconcerting oppression and racism and they still considered to be the most powerful protest songs ever written. Kendrick Lamar managed to follow the footsteps of these musicians and create impressive contemporary protest songs. He is the undisputed “king” of present-day Hip Hop, influencing generations from younger to older all around world.

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Music is not only used to capture peoples hearing but it is used to power peoples minds through the power of an individuals voice. Music served a critical role in the African American’s lives, as it was used to uplift their spirits as well as providing them with hope and strength to fight for civil rights and overcome segregation between white superiority and the unfair treatment of the inferior black. Music was defined as the voice of the people that lived through the oppression of the civil rights movement. During the civil rights movement, there were many different types of music genres sung, dependent on the culture, this included spiritual music; gospel and even folk music, which was performed by musicians, singers and even people of any musical talents. Through this, it brought about the uniting of people to join together and sing songs that helped them go through the oppression of the civil rights movement.

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