Historian Bernice Johnson Reagon says the following of the civil rights-era songs: “Most of the singing of the civil rights movement was congregational; it was sung unrehearsed in the tradition of the Afro-American folk church . . . The core song repertoire was formed from the reservoir of Afro-American traditional song performed in the older style of singing. This music base was expanded to include most of the popular Afro-American music forms and singing techniques of the period. From this reservoir, activist song leaders made a new music for a changed time. Lyrics were transformed, traditional melodies were adapted and procedures associated with old forms were blended with new forms to create freedom songs capable of expressing the force and intent of the movement.” Referring to at least two songs as examples, what are the cultural legacies binding these songs to their historical origins as slave songs? Does the transformation allow these songs to function in new ways, or do they hold too closely to the past in such a way as to interfere with the message?Resources:Sing for Freedom: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement Through Its SongsCompiled and Edited by Guy and Candie CarawanANY SONGS FROM THIS BOOK MAY BE USED!
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