Songs About the Civil Rights Movement and #blacklivesmatter
published 6/16/20; updated 5/19/22
by Catharine Hannay, founder of MindfulTeachers.org
Continuing the series of playlists on mindfulness, compassion, and values-based teaching, here's a thought-provoking selection of songs that inspired and are inspired by the civil rights movement and the movement for black lives.
Please watch the full video and listen to or read the full lyrics before deciding what's appropriate for your own classroom. Think about the age and background of your students, and how they might react to certain words and images.
At the end of the post, I've included links to more playlists and teaching resources about the music of the civil rights movement.
American Dream, Willie Jones
lyrics; official video
Better Than We Found It, Maren Morris
lyrics; official video (ends with a message to her baby son about the kind of role model she wants to be for him)
A Change is Gonna Come, Sam Cooke
lyrics; live performance by Jennifer Hudson
The Freedom Rider, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers
audio (instrumental)
From the Plantation to the Penitentiary, Wynton Marsalis
audio (instrumental)
2020 Riots: How Many Times, Trey Songz
lyrics; official video
I Can't Breathe, Dietrick Haddon
lyrics; official video
I Can't Breathe, H.E.R
lyrics; official video; audio
I Can't Breathe, Maino
video
I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel to Be Free), Billy Taylor & Dick Dallas
lyrics; audio by Nina Simone
Lift Every Voice and Sing, J. Rosamond Johnson and James Weldon Johnson
lyrics; a cappella version by Committed; instrumental version by black orchestral musicians; dance solo by Khalia Campbell of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
March on Selma, Blue Mitchell
audio
instrumental
Strange Fruit, Abel Meeropol
lyrics; video of Andra Day; NPR article explaining the background on the song, inspired by a photo of a lynching (a common form of mob violence against African Americans from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries).
We Gotta Pray, Alicia Keys
lyrics; official video
We Shall Overcome
a cappella performance by the Aeolians from Oakton University
a cappella performance (Amen/We Shall Overcome) by Shades from Yale University
We Shall Overcome: Love Will Rise Again by Nimo Patel and Daniel Nahmod
Here are a few good sources for more songs about the civil rights movement and the movement for black lives:
15 Top Civil Rights Songs That Promote Freedom and Justice from Black Enterprise
Top Ten Civil Rights Songs from The Nation
New Protest Anthems: Songs of the Uprising for George Floyd from Rolling Stone
And here are a few teaching resources on the importance of music in the Civil Rights Movement:
The Music of the Civil Rights Movement: lesson plan integrating music, history, and current events, from TeachRock.org
Music in the Civil Rights Movement from the Library of Congress
Songs and the Civil Rights Movement from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University
Till Victory Is Won: The Staying Power Of 'Lift Every Voice And Sing' from NPR
Soundtrack for a Revolution documentary (trailer); article with background on the film; and lyrics of the songs that inspired the civil rights movement.
Related Posts
There are many more song playlists and resources on community and diversity here at MindfulTeachers.org, including the following posts: