"Oh Freedom": Songs of the Civil Rights Movement

Southern Illinoisan, February 3, 2016

 Faced with the violence—both legal and extra-legal—inherent in the Jim Crow system, civil rights activists of the 1950s and 1960s forged a culture of strength and resistance. And, as Macomb, Illinois, musician and music historian Chris Vallillo says, music played a crucial role in the development of this movement culture. “Songs filled the movement. They bred inspiration, courage and solidarity in the face of the ever-present threat of violence. Freedom songs would be the glue that held the movement together.”

Vallillo has released a new CD, Oh Freedom: Songs of the Civil Rights Movement (available online at ginridge.com) including such well-known songs as “We Shall Overcome” and “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize,” as well as several lesser-known songs.

In Vallillo’s view, music both connected the movement to the long history of African-American struggle and provided commentary on more timely issues. “Singing has always been a critical part of African-American culture. Many of the songs that became known as Freedom Songs had their roots in the spirituals of the slavery era. For instance, the lyrics of ‘I Shall Not Be Moved’ stretch back to the days of slavery. The song evolved through time from a gospel tune to a labor song in the 1930s sung by coal miners before becoming a civil rights song. ‘Oh Freedom’ started out as a song believed to have been written in response to the Emancipation Proclamation and sung in public as a response to the news of freedom.

“At the same time,” Vallillo continues, “music served as commentary on issues of the moment. New songs evolved from old songs. Most had a simple structure that allowed for easy improvisations with the lyrics. By changing a few words in a line you could adapt the song for any situation. For example, in ‘Ain't Gonna Let Nobody (Turn Me Around)’ the verse is just one line with repetition. A song leader could improvise a new lyric on the spot and call it out to the group which could immediately sing the verse together.” The Albany, Georgia, Chief of Police, Laurie Pritchett, for instance, was notorious for his department’s brutal treatment of demonstrators. In response, local activists added a verse specifically naming him.

Other songs emerged out of various local movements. As Vallillo comments, “'If You Miss Me at the Back of the Bus’ chronicles the early victories of the Civil Rights Movement. Charles Neblett of the Freedom Singers, and a student at Southern Illinois University, wrote this in 1962 to the tune of ‘O Mary Don’t You Weep’ in support of a demonstration in Cairo, Illinois, where white residents swam in an outdoor municipal pool, while African Americans had to swim in the Mississippi River. It would help win the desegregation of the municipal Cairo swimming pool. After they won that fight a new verse was added to the song. ‘If you miss me at the Mississippi River and you can't find me nowhere, come on down to the swimming pool and I'll be swimming right there.’" 

While these songs are very much of their era, Vallillo believes they remain timely given the resurgence of a civil rights movement around issues like Black Lives Matter and the student activism at the University of Missouri and other campuses. “One of the main reasons I had for creating the project was to bring this music and these issues back into the forefront by highlighting the struggle that brought us this far. Very few artists are taking a stand on issues of social justice these days, but many of the issues that existed in the ‘60's are still with us. If anything, it seems as if we are moving backwards in terms of race relations given the particularly nasty nature of politics today. Movements like Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street and the recent campus demonstrations all can—and do—draw an important lesson from the way music was used as a tool in movements of the ‘50's and ‘60's. Ironically enough, I recently saw a segment on the national news showing students out west protesting recent gun violence on campus with a sit in style candlelight memorial. They were singing ‘This Little Light of Mine.’”