Civil Rights Anthem

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" and
  • "Go Tell it on the Mountain".

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.

Read more about Civil Rights Anthem:  Additional Civil Rights Anthems

Famous quotes containing the words civil rights, civil and/or rights:

    “... as a result of generations of betrayal, it’s nearly impossible for Southern Negroes to trust a Southern white. No matter what he does or what he suffers, a white liberal is never established beyond suspicion in the hearts of the minority.”
    —Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 2, ch. 10 (1962)

    “We have heard all of our lives how, after the Civil War was over, the South went back to straighten itself out and make a living again. It was for many years a voiceless part of the government. The balance of power moved away from it—to the north and the east. The problems of the north and the east became the big problem of the country and nobody paid much attention to the economic unbalance the South had left as its only choice.”
    —Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)

    “Unless democracy is to commit suicide by consenting to its own destruction, it will have to find some formidable answer to those who come to it saying: “I demand from you in the name of your principles the rights which I shall deny to you later in the name of my principles.””
    —Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)