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 find ourselves under the government of a system of political institutions, conducing more essentially to the ends of civil and religious liberty, than any of which the history of former times tells us.”
    —Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)

    “Dat little man in black dar, he say women can’t have as much rights as men, ‘cause Christ wan’t a woman! Whar did your Christ come from? Whar did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothin’ to do wid Him.”
    —Sojourner Truth (1797–1883)