Summary: The Civil Rights Movement

Music plays a vital role when it comes to inciting social change. During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, artists openly addressed the issues of the day. In particular, music assisted those who were working to gain rights for African Americans. Freedom songs, usually adapted from the music of the black church, played an essential role maintaining courage, inspiring participation, and fostering a sense of community. This piece represents the fight to establish equal rights for African Americans in the United States in the 1960s. This connects to Unit 7 in our history notebook, where we learned about The Civil Rights Movement and the different groups of people that took part in it. This song is referring to the movement Dr. Luther King
In writing this song, I believe these artists hoped that people would be inspired by the bravery of those who came before them and appreciate what they did for the world today. Common raps, “From dark roads he rose, to become a hero Facin’ the league of justice”. Basically, Common in saying that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. faced many challenges in order to get equality for African Americans in society. Also, they want people to realize that the fight is not over yet, and they still need people to go out and protest to end the unfair treatment of unarmed black men by the police. The message to stand up against injustice back then was immensely important, and it sadly is still relevant in today’s society. Common also raps, “Hands to the Heavens, no man, no weapon”. Common refers to the “Hands up, Don’t Shoot” movement that surfaced after the death of 18 year old Michael Brown who was killed by a white police officer in Ferguson while unarmed. This song also emphasizes the importance of the people or supporters in any movement. We can see this when Common raps, “No one can win the war