Civil Rights anthem

Civil Rights anthems is a relational concept to protest song, but one that is specifically linked to the African-American Civil Rights Movement. The songs were often sung during protests or marches related to the movement. Participants in the Civil Rights Movement referred to these songs as "Freedom Songs" rather than "anthems."

In several cases these songs began as gospel or spiritual, the most famous being

• "We Shall Overcome"^[1] and
• "Go Tell it on the Mountain".^[2]

Nina Simone is also known for writing of such songs, such as:

• "Mississippi Goddam", from Nina Simone in Concert (1964).
• "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", from Black Gold (1970), this song was also dubbed the "official civil rights anthem".

Activist Fannie Lou Hamer is known for singing songs at marches or other protests. Zilphia Horton also played a role in the conversion of spirituals to civil rights songs.

Additional civil rights anthems

• "A Change Is Gonna Come (song)": Composed and performed by Sam Cooke; #12 on the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list of Rolling Stone magazine
• "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round"
• "Certainly Lord": based on a spiritual
• "Hold On" (also known as "Keep Your Eye On The Prize"): Based on a spiritual
• "If You Miss Me at the Back of the Bus": Adapted from a composition by Chico Neblett
• "I'm Gonna Sit at the Welcome Table": Adapted from a Spiritual
• "I Woke Up This Mornin'": Adapted from a Spiritual
• "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing": Composed by James Weldon Johnson
• "This Little Light of Mine": Originally a spiritual, associated with Fannie Lou Hamer.^[3]
• "We shall not be moved": Also, likely originally, a labor union song.
• "If I had a hammer": A labor union song by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays.
• "The Father of a Son": A song by the band " The Ark" about homosexuals' right to have children

Notes

1. ^ Kansas State University
2. ^ Smithsonian Global Sound
3. ^ Essence

External links

• The Songs - University of Illinois
• "People Get Ready": Music and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s - History Now
• PBS
• Coco Jams
• About.com Top 10 Civil Rights Songs
• The Power of Freedom Songs ~ Civil Rights Movement Veterans

Bibliography

• Everybody Says Freedom, by Pete Seeger & Bob Reiser. Norton, 1989
• When the Spirit Says Sing! The Role of Freedom Songs in the Civil Rights Movement, by Kerran Sanger. Taylor & Francis Inc, 1995
• Sing for Freedom: the Story of the Civil Rights Movement Through its Songs, by Guy and Candie Carawan, Sing Out Corporation 1990