If Your Back's Not Bent by Dorothy F. Cotton

Author:Dorothy F. Cotton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2012-09-04T00:00:00+00:00

Pete Seeger and me.

When I consider the words of our anthem today, I know that there were indeed profoundly important reasons why all of us “freedom fighters” sang this and many other songs. In a real sense, we sang our way to freedom. We sang because we were free in spirit. Free because we were in community. And nobody, nothing, would “turn us around.” There was an exciting momentum and resolve generated by the songs.

Music and musicians advanced the movement. James Brown is owed a debt of gratitude for what he did in the aftermath of the assassination of Dr. King. There was talk of a scheduled concert of his in Boston being canceled because of worries about violence breaking out there, as it had in many cities. After the news of Dr. King’s death, James Brown convinced the sponsors in Boston to let the show go on by broadcasting it live, free of charge. No one would have to buy a ticket. James Brown singing “I’m Black and I’m Proud” and his incredibly fancy footwork just may be the reason most people stayed home rather than taking to the streets of Boston on April 4, 1968, the day Dr. King was killed.

• • •

I HEARD Seal, the award-winning singer of soul music, say in an interview with Tavis Smiley, “Great leaders can speak to the mainstream; great music gets into your bloodstream.” This is exactly what the freedom songs did for us in the civil rights and other human rights movements. There was a song written for Nelson Mandela while he was incarcerated at Robben Island in Cape Town, South Africa. The refrain sung with great power was “We’re gonna sing Mandela free!” And so we did. People were singing the song with this refrain in many places around the world.

Andy Young’s statement, “The reason communism did not catch on in the South was that those organizers did not sing,” may be exaggerated, but I know that something deep and profound happens when people sing together, and sometimes when they just listen to singing with an open heart.

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