2. I always hear older people criticize todays music, about how it lacks substance and how
the music of their day meant something. As much as I’d like to argue I can’t, there was a
time when popular music cried out for freedom, equality and social change. The question
posed in this learning module was : How can art educate and even affect change in the
world? One of the strongest examples of art educating and effecting change was the music
of the civil rights era. I’d like to take you on a musical journey of some of the music that
helped shape American history.
3. Mississippi Goddam
Mississippi Goddam
was written by
Nina Simone in
response to the
slaying of Medgar
Evers. The song
was performed at
the end of the
Selma to
Montgomery
march.
4. Strange
Fruit
Strange Fruit is a song that was
first recorded by Billie Holiday
in 1939 in response to the
disturbing lynching trend.
Interestingly enough the song
was actually written by a Jewish
school teacher.
5. A Change is
Gonna Come
A Change is Gonna Come was sang by Sam Cooke and
inspired by his own experiences including be turned away
from a whites only motel in Louisiana.
7. We Shall
Not be
Moved
We shall not be
moved is an old negro
spiritual that took on
new life and became
an anthem during the
civil rights movement.
8. Ain't Gonna Let Nobody
Turn Me Around
This is
another song
that spoke
to the
determined
spirits of
those
fighting for
change
9. Say it Loud -
I'm Black and
I'm Proud
This iconic song by James
Brown comes in at the tail end
of the movement. It's a song
that empowers and energizes
those that were once
powerless and oppressed.
10. The Ecology of the mind lesson notes say "Art should uplift
and inspire to action." These songs of the civil rights era
spurred drastic action. These artist so many times put their
own lives in danger when they performed these songs but
they did it because they knew their art was needed to serve
a higher purpose and help fuel the cause. These songs
helped unite and uplift those who were fighting for change.
When they became weary these songs breathed new life
into them. When they felt like giving up, these songs
reminded them that they could and would over come. This,
in my opinion, is art at it's best. Yes the songs are
composed well and sound nice, but they're more than that.
These songs were vehicles for social change.
11. Bibliography
"Cooke, Sam." Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. Ed. Nicolas
Slonimsky and Laura Kuhn. Vol. 2. New York: Schirmer, 2001. 716-717.
Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
Fore, Melissa. "Strange Fruit." Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender. Vol. 4. Detroit:
Gale Group, 2007. 14341435. Print
"Mississippi Goddam." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Apr. 2014. Web.
21 Apr. 2014.
"“Say it Loud—I’m Black and I’m Proud” by James Brown (1968)." African
American Eras: Contemporary Times. Vol. 4: Military, Popular Culture,
Religion, Science and Technology. Detroit: U*X*L, 2010. 687-688. Gale
Virtual Reference Library. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
