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:

    “If we love-and-serve an ideal we reach backward in time to its inception and forward to its consummation. To grow is sometimes to hurt; but who would return to smallness?”
    —Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 3, ch. 3 (1962)

    “During the Civil War the area became a refuge for service- dodging Texans, and gangs of bushwhackers, as they were called, hid in its fastnesses. Conscript details of the Confederate Army hunted the fugitives and occasional skirmishes resulted.”
    —Administration in the State of Texa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)

    “Why hast thou lost the fresh blood in thy cheeks,
    And given my treasures and my rights of thee
    To thick-eyed musing and cursed melancholy?”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)