Unit 4 Project

For the Unit 4 Project you will learn about the music of the civil rights movement and then you will use images and sounds to illustrate your impression of the movement. You can create a slide show using PowerPoint or you can use Microsoft Word to compose an image essay and simply list the civil rights songs you found most interesting. You will deposit your presentation in the Blackboard ASSIGNMENT drop box.

STEP ONE: To prepare your project, begin by learning about the role that music played in the civil rights movement. Read these essays on music during the civil rights movement:

* Bernice Johnson Reagon, “Music in the Civil Rights Movement”

* Brian Ward, “’People Get Ready’: Music and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s"

* Visit the Music Index at the web site accompanying the PBS documentary, “Eyes on the Prize.” Follow the links to listen to the songs.

STEP TWO: When you have finished reading, listen to some of the music:

* Visit this interactive history site, “Songs of the Civil Rights Movement,” from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

* Visit this Teachers’ Domain web site and watch the QuickTime video, “Movement Music Medley”

STEP THREE: Create a multimedia presentation on the civil rights movement

* Click here for tips on how to create your presentation

STEP FOUR: Attach your completed project to an email and send it to Prof. Neel. Please use the Blackboard email system.

Drawing from the reservoir of traditional African American songs, music provided a constant backdrop to the Civil Rights movement. Some songs were spirituals dating back to the era of slavery, others were songs taken from church traditions, and some were composed for specific events during the movement. Very few relied on accompanying instruments, other than clapping, but the common denominator in all of the music sung during the Civil Rights movement was the theme of freedom. Freedom songs were often sung as a motivating force during group demonstrations, mass meetings, and church services. Most of the singing was congregational, or communal, begun by a leader who was then joined by others who "grew" the song. Sometimes the leader issued a call, and the group would respond, often rotating leaders for different verses. Harmonies, rolling bass, and dissonance all gave the feeling of surging forward. Songs like "Woke Up This Morning with My Mind Stayed on Freedom" and "We Shall Overcome" facilitated unity, lifted spirits, and prepared people for direct action.

quoted from Movement Music Medley