MUSIC 26AC Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–1968), I Shall Not Be Moved, Montgomery Bus Boycott
Freedo “ogs Otoer 9, 7
• Historical overview of the Civil Rights Era
o Civil Rights Era (1955-1968)
o Political surges come in waves
▪ In the 20th century, there is a surge in large scale political activity about the working
conditions in factories
o Growth of Black middle class after the return of Black soldiers from WWII
▪ More discontent about racial differences and problematic areas about the system
o 2 main concerns of African Americans in the Civil Rights Movement:
▪ End racial segregation
▪ Enforcing the right to vote in southern states – there was a lot of intimidation used,
tests with arcane knowledge about the US Constitution, poll taxes
o Gradual rejection of standard political lobbying. People turn to protests and civil
disobedience to assert pressure to achieve goals
o Beginnings of African American Civil Rights Movement
▪ 1948: Executive Order to end different treatment of races in the US military
▪ 1954: Brown vs. Board of Education ending public school segregation
▪ 1955: Montgomery Bus Boycott – yearlong protest that was carefully crafted by a
movement of people
• Rosa Parks ad others ere tired after a log day’s of ork
▪ Martin Luther King Jr.: Baptist preacher/speaker/organizer that emphasized non-
violent action
• Figurehead that mobilized community rallying
• Ongoing actions for these types of protests to be sustained
o Types of actions
▪ School desegregation
▪ Sit-ins
▪ Freedom rides: everyday people participated (ie: students)
▪ Boycotts
o A lot of these actions were met with violent responses (ie: firehoses, bombing)
o A lot of actions/protests were supported by singing
• Freedom songs: pulled from traditional African American musical culture and used to support CRM
struggles (ie: meetings, protests)
o Artiulatio[s] of ouity oers Reago
• Cultural revival: adapting material from the past for current social, political, etc. functions
o Connect struggles of today with those of the past
o Tap strength/resilience in earlier traditions
▪ Spirituals were already used for coping in the new historical moment (ie: union
organizing)
o Not a strict repetition, but using the aesthetic gestures to capture the current history
• Musical features:
o Song leader: person who raises the song and lets it get caught by the congregation; how to
read a crowd and support a larger group of people; not a soloist/centerpiece, but a leader to
call all the voices to sing communally
▪ Musical and organizational role
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
