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AFRICAN AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS SONGS
Editor's Note:
Because of a change in servers, since December 2008, I have only been able to sporadically access the 'Contact Us' page. This note will be removed when that feature is available again. I apologize to all those who have sent in submissions for possible posting. Thanks for your patience during this transition.
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This page contains examples of and comments about African American civil rights songs. Civil rights songs are also known as "freedom songs".
Like other folk songs, the words to these songs may be improvised and the order of the verses may be changed and/or new verses added as the spirit moves the singers. For example, some of these songs (such as "We Shall Overcome" and "We Shall Not Be Moved") were used by Black people and White people during workers' union movements before being spontaneously or purposely picked up by persons active in the 1960s African American Civil Rights movement.
Many of these songs are modifications of 19th century or earlier African American spirituals. Some were composed by anonymous African Americans as post-slavery emancipation songs. When a song's composer is known, I have included that composer's name with the lyrics.
Most of the songs on this page are from my memories of the Civil Rights movement, early-mid 1960s. I learned these songs in Atlantic City, New Jersey 1962-1965. During that time civil rights songs were also called "freedom songs".
Please send in the words to other Civil Rights songs!
click here to submit the words to additional Civil Rights Songs (Freedom Songs) or other versions of the songs that are already listed. Also, click that link to send in any any comments, questions, information, about and any video links to Civil Rights songs.
Thanks to all who contribute to this effort to raise awareness of and appreciation for these songs!
EXAMPLES OF CIVIL RIGHTS SONGS
A,B
Aint Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round
(based on an African American spiritual)
Aint gonna let nobody
turn me 'roun
turn me 'roun
Aint gonna let nobody
turn me roun
I'm gonna keep on walkin'
keep on talkin
walkin into freedom land
Aint gonna let (add the name a prominent segregationist)
turn me 'roun
turn me 'roun
Aint gonna let (repeat name)
turn me 'roun
I'm gonna keep on walkin'
keep on talkin
walkin into freedom land
Aint gonna let no jailhouse
turn me 'roun
turn me 'roun
Aint gonna let no jailhouse
turn me 'roun
I'm gonna keep on walkin'
keep on talkin
walkin into freedom land
Aint gonna let no policemen
turn me 'roun
turn me 'roun
Aint gonna let no policemen
turn me round
I'm gonna keep on walkin'
keep on talkin
walkin' into freedom land
Aint gonna let no playa haters
turn me 'round
turn me 'round
Aint gonna let no playa haters
turn me 'round
I'm gonna keep on walkin
keep on talkin
walkin into freedom land
-snip-
This song is based on an African American spiritual. The word "marchin" may be substituted for "walkin". I added the last verse in 2007 to update the song a bit. A "playa hater" (player hater) is a person who is jealous of another person's possessions, accomplishments, looks etc. A playa hater could also be antagonistic toward the person for no reason at all.
****
C,D
Certainly Lord
(based on an African American spiritual)
Do you want your freedom?
"Certainly, Lord"
Do you want your freedom?
"Certainly, Lord"
Do you want your freedom?
"Certainly, Lord"
Certainly, Certainly, Certainly Lord
Will you march for your rights?
"Certainly, Lord"
Will you march for your rights?
"Certainly, Lord"
Will you march for your rights?
"Certainly, Lord"
Certainly, Certainly, Certainly, Lord
Will you go to jail?
"Certainly, Lord"
Will you go to jail?
"Certainly, Lord"
Will you go to jail?
"Certainly, Lord"
Certainly, Certainly, Certainly, Lord
Jail over bail?
"Certainly, Lord"
Jail over bail?
"Certainly, Lord"
ail over bail?
"Certainly, Lord"
Certainly, Certainly, Certainly, Lord
E,F
Freedom
F-R-E-E-D-O-M What does that spell? FREEDOM! That's what we need. FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Anonymous; 6/7/2007
Editor:
Anonymous 6/7/2007, thanks for sending that chant in. It reminded me of this chant which was widely used during Civil Rights demonstrations in the USA:
What do we want? Freedom!!! When do we want it? Now!!!
G,H
Hold On (also known as "Keep Your Eye On The Prize")
(based on an African American spiritual)
Paul and Silas bound in jail
with no money to forgo their bail
Keep your eye on the prize
and hold on, hold on
chorus:
Hold on
Hold on
Keep your eye on the prize
and hold on, hold on.
If religion was a thing
that money could buy
the rich would live and the
poor would die
Keep your eye on the prize
and hold on, hold on.
chorus
One and one
that makes two
tell you what I'm-ma gonna do
Keep my eye on the prize
and hold on, hold on
chorus
Know the one thing we did wrong
stayed in the wilderness far too long
Know the first thing we did right
was the day we started to fight
Keep your eye on the prize hold on, hold on
Editor:
Thanks, Mama Kemba for sending in the third verse to this song on 2/26/2008. Thanks, also, to bill allen for sending a message on 4/24/2009 which noted that "Keep Your Eye On The Prize" is an urban version of the rural (farm or plantation) song ""Hold On". bill also included these verses in his message:
1. When you plow, don't lose your track, Can't plow straight and keep a-lookin' back.
Keep your hand on that plow, hold on (Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on.)
2. Wanna getta heav'n?, I'll tell you how, Keep your hand right on that plow. (Keep your eyes...)
3. When I thought I was lost, Dungeon shook and the chains fell off.
(Keep your eyes...)
4. Got my hands on the gospel plow, Wouldn't take nothin' for my journey now.
(Keep your eyes...)
5. The only chain we can stand, Is the chain of hand in hand
(Keep your eyes...)
-snip-
Other verses can be added to this song, and to all of the other songs on this page. What verses can you think of for this song or for other freedom songs?
I,J
If You Miss Me At The Back Of The Bus
(adapted from the song composed by C. Neblett)
If you miss me at the back of the bus
If you can't find me back there
Come on up to the front of the bus
I'll be sittin right there
I'll be sittin right there
Come on up to the front of the bus
I'll be sittin right there
If you can't find me in the school room
If you can't find me in there
Come on out to the picket line
I'll be standin right there
I'll be standin right there
Come on out to the picket line
I'll be standin right there
If you can't find me in the picket line
If you can't find me out there
Come on down to the jail house
I'll be singin in there
I'll be singin in there
Come on down to the jail house
I'll be singin in there
If you can't find me in jail house
If you don't see me in there
Come on over to the church yard
I'll be prayin out there
I'll be prayin out there
Come on over to the church yard
I'll be prayin out there.
[Here are some additional verses from a 1963 book on Civil Rights songs edited by Guy and Candie Carawan, published by Oak Publications; New York ; p. 50; {Library of Congress Number 63-23278}. I lost the cover page of the copy I reproduced and don't have a title page].
If you miss me from the front of the bus,
and you can't find me nowhere,
Come on up to the driver's seat,
I'll be driving up there. etc.
If you miss me from Jackson State,
and you can't find me no where
Come on over to Ole Miss,
I'll be studyin' over there. etc.
If you miss me from knockin' on doors
and you can't find me nowhere
Come on down to the registrar's room,
I'll be the registrar there. ect.
If you miss me from the cotton field,
and you can't find me nowhere.
Come on down to the court house,
I'll be voting right there. etc
If you miss me from the picket line,
and you can't find me nowhere.
Come on down to the jail house,
I'll be rooming down there. etc.
If you miss me from the Mississippi
River
and you can't find me nowhere
Come on down to the city pool
I'll be swimming in there. etc.
-snip-
See this Mudcat discussion forum post for more information on this song:
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=36629&messages=101#2095880
"Back of the Bus" songs
****
I'm Gonna Sit At The Welcome Table
(adapted from an African American spiritual)
I'm gonna sit at the welcome table,
I'm gonna sit at the welcome table one of these days,
Hallelujah!
I'm gonna sit at the welcome table,
I'm gonna sit at the welcome table one of these days.
I'm gonna walk the streets of glory,
I'm gonna walk the streets of glory one of these days,
Hallelujah!
I'm gonna walk the streets of glory,
I'm gonna walk the streets of glory one of these days.
I'm gonna get my civil rights,
I'm gonna get my civil rights one of these days,
Hallelujah!
I'm gonna get my civil rights,
I'm gonna get my civil rights one of these days.
I'm gonna sit at the Woolworth counter,
I'm gonna sit at the Woolworth counter one of these days,
Hallelujah!
I'm gonna sit at the Woolworth counter,
I'm gonna sit at the Woolworth counter one of these days.
Editor:
This song is based on an African American spiritual with the same title. It was part of a play written by the students of the McComb, Mississippi, Freedom School in 1964. Source: http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/courses/ci407ss/welcometable.html
See http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/courses/ci407ss/freedomschools.html
for information about freedom schools.
See also information about and sound clips of this Folkways record:
http://www.smithsonianglobalsound.org/trackdetail.aspx?itemid=17322
The Nashville Sit-in Story: Songs and Scenes of Nashville Lunch Counter Desegregation (by the Sit-In Participants)
See, also a discussion of this song on http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=93754&messages=21
Origins: Gospel song 'The Welcome Table'
****
I'm On My Way
(based on an African American spiritual "I'm On My Way to Canaan Land",and "I'm Bound For The Promised Land")
I'm on my way to the freedom land
I'm on my way to the freedom land
I'm on my way to the freedom land
I'm on my way, praise God
I'm on my way.
I asked my brother to come with me
I asked my brother to come with me
I asked my brother to come with me
I'm on my way, praise God
I'm on my way.
I asked my sister to come with me
I asked my sister to come with me
I asked my sister to come with me
I'm on my way, praise God
I'm on my way.
If they say no, I'll go alone
If they say no, I'll go alone
If they say no, I'll go alone
I'm on my way, praise God
I'm on my way.
I'm on my way, and I won't turn back
I'm on my way, and I won't turn back
I'm on my way, and I won't turn back
I'm on my way, praise God
I'm on my way.
http://www.songsforteaching.com/billharley/imonmyway.htm
-snip-
See this note from https://www.oldtownschool.org/resources/songnotes/songnotes_I.html :
"I'm On My Way
The Civil Rights movement in 1960s was the singingest movement in American history. Old African American spirituals like, “I Will Overcome,” “I'm On My Way to Canaan Land” and dozens of others were adapted by marchers and demonstrators throughout the South and across the nation. By design, the repetitive nature and “call back” structure of a spiritual make it ideal for improvised group singing.
Source: Sing for Freedom, edited and compiled by Guy and Candie Carawan. Sing Out! Publications.
Recordings on file by: Carter Family, Mahalia Jackson, Various artists".
****
I Woke Up This Mornin'
(based on an African American spiritual)
(Well I) woke up this mornin' with my mind
stayed
on freedom.
Woke up this mornin' with my mind,
stayed on freedom.
Woke up this mornin' with my mind
stayed
on freedom.
Hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah.
(Oh well) I walked and talked
talked and walked
with my mind
stayed
on freedom.
Walked and talked
talked and walked
with my mind
stayed on freedom.
I walked and talked
talked and walked
with my mind
stayed
on freedom.
Hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah.
(You know) I sing and shout
shout and sing
with my mind
stayed on freedom.
sing and shout
shout and sing
with my mind
stayed
on freedom.
Hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah.
Nobody gonna stop me
cause my mind's
stayed
on freedom
Nobody gonna stop me
cause my mind's
stayed on freedom.
Aint nobody gonna stop me
cause my mind's
stayed
on freedom.
Hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah.
Woke up this mornin' with my mind
stayed
on freedom.
Woke up this mornin' with my mind,
stayed
on freedom.
Woke up this mornin' with my mind
stayed
on freedom.
Hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah.
-snip-
The words in parenthesis are optional. Instead of those words, you can sing "Yes, I woke up this mornin' etc". Or you can just start with the "Woke up this mornin".
Civil rights songs are "open ended". Other verses can be added to these songs, or used in place of the more well known verses. For example, I've just recently added the fourth and fifth verses to this song because they just came to me. What verses can you think of for this song?
K,L
Lift Every Voice And Sing
(words composed by James Weldon Johnson; music composed by his brother John Rosemond Johnson)
Lift ev'ry voice and sing,
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the list'ning skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chast'ning rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered.
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who hast by Thy might,
Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;
Shadowed beneath Thy hand,
May we forever stand,
True to our God,
True to our native land.
Editor:
This song is considered the African American National Anthem (formerly known as the Negro National Anthem). There was a time when this song was taught in public schools attended by Black children. However, it appears to me that increasingly fewer younger people know the words of this song. Also, my experience has been that nowadays people don't know that it was traditional for folks to stand up while singing this song. Men were also supposed to take off their hats, just as they were supposed to do for the American national anthem. However, I have noticed that none of these customs have been practiced for years. But I'm one of those old people who reminds others (young and old) to stand ip while singing this song out of respect for our ancestors and out of respect for the memories that this song is supposed to evoke.
M,N
Maching 'Round Selma
Marching ‘round Selma like Jericho,
Jericho, Jericho
Marching ‘round Selma like Jericho
For segregation wall must fall
Look at people answering
To the Freedom Fighters call
Black, Brown and White American say
Segregation must fall
Good evening freedom’s fighters
Tell me where you’re bound
Tell me where you’re marching
“From Selma to Montgomery town
-snip-
See this note from http://www.negrospirituals.com/song.htm
"Sometimes the words of traditional Negro spirituals were slightly changed and adapted to special events. For example, the words of “Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho (and the walls came tumbling down)” were changed into “Marching ‘round Selma”.
-snip-
Editor:
The 'n' in the word "Negro" was written in lower case on this website. I capitalized it because of my remembrances of the struggles in the 1950s and early 1960s to get this word capitalized like other racial and and national referents.
****
No More Auction Block For Me (also known as "Many Thousands Gone")
(an African American freedom song that was composed immediately after the end of the Civil War)
No more auction block for me
No more, no more
No more auction block for me
Many thousands gone
No more driver's lash for me
No more, no more
No more driver's lash for me
Many thousands gone
No more pint of salt for me
No more, no more
No more pint of salt for me
Many thousands gone
No more auction block for me
No more, no more
No more auction block for me
Many thousands gone
****
Oh, Freedom
Oh-o freedom.
Oh-o freedom
Oh freedom over me,
(Over me.)
And before I be a slave
I'll be buried in my grave.
And go home to my Lord and be free.
(and be free.)
No segregation
No segregation
No more segregation
Over me
(Over me)
And before I be a slave
I'll be buried in my grave.
And go home to my Lord and be free.
(and be free.)
No more weepin
No more weepin
No more weepin
Over me
(Over me)
And before I be a slave
I'll be buried in my grave.
And go home to my Lord and be free.
(and be free.)
No more tommin *
No more tommin
No more tommin
Out of me
(Out of me)
And before I be a slave
I'll be buried in my grave.
And go home to my Lord and be free.
(and be free.)
Oh-o freedom.
Oh-o freedom
Oh freedom over me,
(Over me.)
And before I be a slave
I'll be buried in my grave.
And go home to my Lord and be free.
(and be free.)
Editor:
*Tommin': (verb): " actions by a Black man or Black men
which demonstrate any or extreme submissiveness toward
a White person or White people (based on Harriet Beecher Stowe's fictitious character "Uncle Tom" in the book in Uncle Tom's Cabin). The female version of an "Uncle Tom" is an "Aunt Jemima".
O,P
Q,R,S
T,U,V
This Little Light Of Mine
(An African American spiritual)
This little light of mine
I'm gonna let it shine.
This little little of mine
I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine.
I'm gonna let it shine.
Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine.
Additional verses:
Everywhere I go. I'm gonna let it shine etc.
All in my life. etc.
Deep in my heart etc.
**
Verses of "This Little Light of Mine" used as a freedom song
(Thanks to AIE, 5/25/2009)*
[Oh] deep down in the South etc.
[Oh] We have the light of freedom etc.
[Oh] God gave it to us We're going to let it shine etc
All in the church etc
*AIE wrote Oh, this little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine". The word "Oh" was only used for the first line. I put the word "Oh" in brackets to denote that it could be omitted. Like other spirituals and freedom songs, "This Little Light Of Mine" has no fixed verses. Verses can be omitted to this song and other verses can be added.
W.X,Y,Z
We Shall Not Be Moved
(based on an African American spiritual)
We shall not, we shall not be moved
(shall not be)
We shall not, we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's planted by the water,
We shall not be moved.
We're fighting for our rights (and)
we shall not be moved
(shall not be)
We're fighting for our rights and
we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's planted by the water,
We shall not be moved.
We shall all be free (and)
we shall not be moved
(shall not be)
We shall all be free (and)
we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's planted by the water,
We shall not be moved.
God is on our side (and)
we shall not be moved
(shall not be)
God is on our side (and)
we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's planted by the water,
We shall not be moved.
Black and White together
we shall not be moved
(shall not be)
Black and White together
we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's planted by the water,
We shall not be moved.
We shall not, we shall not be moved
(shall not be)
We shall not, we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's planted by the water,
We shall not be moved.
-snip-
Notes: See this verse of "We Shall Not Be Moved" used as a
motivational union song:
"We shall not, we shall not be moved
We shall not, we shall not be moved
We'll building a mighty union,
We shall not be moved"
-online source: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/7840/song6.htm
****
We Shall Overcome
{based on an African American spiritual}
We shall overcome, we shall overcome
We shall overcome someday
Oh-o deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome someday
We shall all be free
We shall live all be free
We shall all be free someday
Oh-o deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome someday
Black and White together
Black and White together
Black and White together someday
Oh-o deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome someday
We'll walk hand in hand
We'll walk hand in hand
We'll walk hand in hand someday
Oh-o deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome someday
The truth shall make us free
truth shall make us free
The truth shall make us free someday
Oh-o deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome someday
We are not afraid
We are not afraid
We are not afraid today
Oh-o deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome someday
Editor:
Here is some Information on the song "We Shall Overcome":
The Encarta.com website says that "'We Shall Overcome' is one of many songs written during the sit-ins, prayer vigils, and poster walks during the civil rights movement in the late 1950s and early 1960s" and that it is "loosely based on gospels and spirituals. For an historical overview, see http://www.pipeline.com/~rgibson/overcomehistory.html
Here is an excerpt from that website:
"The song [We Shall Overcome] was born in slavery.
It began as a field song, a work refrain that helped men and
women in bondage endure from sunup to sundown. They would
sing: "I'll be all right."
Like many songs that began in slavery, it had no one author
and no standard version. It spread and changed with the
seasons and generations and as slaves were sold from one
place to another in the American South.
In time there was a war, and the slaves won their freedom,
but only in a legal sense. The song survived in a new time
of lynching and Jim Crow. In 1901, as laws decreeing
separation between the races were being erected, a Methodist
minister named Charles Albert Tindley published a kindred
version: "I'll Overcome Someday."
It was a song of hope, a hymn for a better tomorrow. It
spread through black churches in the South and in the North,
and then through the Southern labor movement.
And in the year that the second World War ended, a faction
of black women were on strike, picketing the owners of a
tobacco plant in Charleston, S.C., at a time when mill
owners controlled almost everything and everyone, white and
black, and at a time when standing up for your rights could
mean a one-way trip in the back of a police car.
The strike dragged on and the women grew disheartened, and
as the rain came down, many dropped off the picket line.
One of the holdouts began to sing the song, vowing to
overcome the odds. Soon they all were singing. In the spirit
of union, they sang "we" instead of "I." And they invented a
new verse:
We will win our rights.
And when the strike was over, they had won their rights, or
at least a contract, and in that time and place that meant
something.
Two of the women visited a union and civil rights training
school far from home, in the Tennessee countryside. It was
at the Highlander Center that they taught the song and its
new verse to a new generation.
Along the way, the "will" became "shall," an old word, one
that had the sound of the Bible in it, and people sang
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome someday.
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe
We shall overcome someday."
**
Here's some additional comments that I wrote about this song:
"We Shall Overcome", the civil rights song, was usually sung while people stood and held the hands of the persons standing at their side and swayed right & left in time with the music. When folks stood and held hands while singing "We Shall Overcome", their arms were criss-crossed at their waists, with the person on each side holding another individual's. My sense is that this symbolized unity & determination. I believe the proper way of doing this is for the right arm to be above the left arm, but I'm not certain about that.
Since I wasn't in the freedom movement, I'm not sure if this style of holding hands and singing was done for other songs.
This performance tradition helped symbolize the unity and helped raise the spirits of an often integrated group of singers.
This song can be tremendously moving, particularly when sung in such an environment, or-even more I can imagine-when sung by protesters during their civil rights demonstrations and/or while they were in jail because of those demonstrations.
Thanks to all who were [and are] in that and/or in other freedom movements! "
****
In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, whose birthday is January 15th, see this tribute to Dr. King- a Dr. King photo collage, and excerpts of his "We shall Overcome" speech. This high quality video ends with a performance of the song "Abraham, Martin, and John' by Moms Mabley.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxc8QxQfYbs&mode=related&search=
January 13, 2007 ; From riesen2b
****
Video Links To Civil Rights Songs
Ruthie Foster - Woke Up This Mornin'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVRcMECcI2E
****
Odetta - A tribute to the Voice of the Civil Rights Movement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzyBvMuccyw
****
Joan Baez -Marching up to freedom land
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-np4Ke4o94E&NR=1
****
Additional information on Civil Rights songs may be found on http://folkmusic.about.com/od/toptens/tp/CivilRightsSong.htm
http://rs6.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart9b.html
and http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/strangefruit/civilrights.html
-snip-
Also, see this Mudcat Discussion forum thread about the song "Keep your eyes on the prize" also known as "Hold On":
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?ThreadID=4136
****
Memories of "We Shall Overcome"
This is a re-post of a comment I wrote in the Mudcat Discussion Forum thread entitled "60's music and spirituality"
Click http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=76784#1364323here to read the entire thread.
I had the honor of hearing Dr. Martin Luther King preach at my home church in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the 1960s. This may have been immediately prior to or during the Democratic Convention and the protest efforts of Fanny Lou Hammer and the Freedom Democratic Party. Or it may have been before the 1963 March on Washington.
My church, Union Baptist Temple, was a center of the both efforts in Atlantic City, and I distinctly remember an African American choir from the South singing the gospel version of "We Shall Overcome" there. Their rendition of "We'll Overcome" was much faster than the civil rights version, but had similar words. No one held hands to sing that song. Instead the song was sung with handclap {and piano/organ} accompaniment. This precluded the holding hands with those next to you in the criss crossed fashion that is symbolic of the civil rights version of "We Shall Overcome". I mean no disparagement of the unifying symbolism of such hand holding and moving side to side while singing that Civil Rights song. It works, at least on an ephemeral level to show people that we are linked together...
But the spirit that I felt from the Gospel singing of "We'll Overcome" was so much more.
As I wrote in another thread, that Southern church choir reminded us so-called "Middle class" African Americans from the North of the difficult life threatening conditions that they constantly face and that our ancestors faced in the South. They exhorted us to put our souls in our singing and not worry about form and fashion.
That singing was a real spiritual experience for me.
I also had the honor of attending the 1963 March On Washington. However, there were so many thousands of people there and I was so very far away from the stage, that I was not aware that Joan Baez or anyone else sang "We Shall Overcome" at event.
The atmosphere at the March On Washington was carnival-like in the best sense of that word. There was a feeling of disregard for those things that normally separate people from each other such as race, age, and economic class. You could feel the energy of so many people united in a positive cause. It felt good.
That also was a spiritual experience for me, and I dare say for -most of the others there as well.
-Azizi Powell, 12/27/2004
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