How Did The Nj's Music Influence The Civil Rights Movement

The 1960’s were a rough batch of years for the United States, however, many artist emerged during the time to change music. In the beginning of the 60’s John F Kennedy ran for president and won. He ran against Richard Nixon, who was running for the Republican party. Later on, in 1961, Kennedy addressed the nation in terms of the war and the community of whom it concerned. He spoke to all American’s encouraging them to “ask not what your country can do you—ask what you can do for your country”. That quote from JFK later became a slogan for America, especially during the Vietnam War. During the sixties, racism was growing, and activist started rising. The Civil Rights Movement started in 1954, but did not end until the late sixties. Many musicians emerged to help persuade their listeners to help with the problems going on during their time. They didn't just persuade their listeners, but expressed their opinions on the topics that were happening. Musicians from all genres joined in, Jazz, Rock, and Motown. The 1960’s were a time of diversity and community, protesting and agreeing, and above

Out of all the marching, protesting, and fighting going on during the protest, some would say music had the biggest influence on the listeners. Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, Malcom X, all of them had huge impacts on the movement. Martin Luther King Jr even spoke out saying “Jazz speaks for life. The Blues tell the story of life's difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph…This is triumphant music.” He expressed that music is a strong form of emotion. A listener can sense the emotion, harm, and feeling that musician is expressing. Some listeners would connect with music, some listeners would even just sit back and enjoy the