Let Freedom Sing: How Music Inspired the Civil Rights Movement directed by Jon Goodman in 2009 is a DVD documentary film explaining the part music played during the Civil Rights Movement and its impact on society, development and enforcement of civil rights and freedoms. The story is narrated by the infamous award-winning actor Louis Gossett Jr. discussing the influence of music with a great variety of splendid civil rights activists, freedom riders and artists, who have made their contribution to raising and spreading the issue of inequality and racism in regards to the African Americans and fighting for the recognition of equality of the black and white men. Among the aforesaid contributors were Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Pete Seeger, Quincy Jones, Gladys Knight, Chuck D and many others. The movie includes the rare footage of the great performers singing songs that became symbols of the Civil Rights Movement.
African Americans had to fight their way to recognition as equal American citizens for a very long period of time, up until 1960s, when Martin Luther King Jr., a leader of the African American movement for civil rights and freedoms, with support of millions of people from across America succeeded in making a change in the state of affairs. The black people did not have the basic civil rights, such as the right to vote, and had been forcefully segregated from the white people by having been denied the possibility to sit next to white people in public places. Such practice was popular not only in the Southern States, where slavery had its most tearful history in the past, but also in the Northern States, thus, increasing the scope of protests and activism throughout America, when the time for changes has come.
Initially a music of slaves, the songs that were composed during the Civil Rights Era were designed to communicate important messages, from narrating about the sad history of African American slaves to empowering protestors and activists across the country by promising the changes that are about to happen in the American society. The creators of the movie emphasized the evolution of music during the increased activity of the Civil Rights Movement. Gradually developing from the gospel music created usually in connection with the spiritual activity in churches, a place that gathered and united African Americans throughout the country, the lyrics of the songs adapted to the changing realities of the 1950s and 1960s. The examples of such songs are Sam Cooke’s “The Change is Gonna Come”, which has seen the light only after his death (performed by Otis Redding in the movie), “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday describing mournful events during the slavery history, and Public Enemy songs telling about the current state of rights and freedoms of black people living in the urban areas.
Not only black people were active in defending their rights to equality; they were majorly supported by various white activists, who composed songs that became iconic for protestors, e.g., Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A Changin’”, “Blowin’ In The Wind”, Phil Ochs’s “Here’s To The State Of Mississippi”, and Pete Seeger’s “We Shall Overcome”, one of the most famous Civil Rights Era song.
At the same time, while unveiling the history of the Civil Rights Movement and music’s part in it, the movie only touches the side of the African American history, while the Civil Rights Movement is a much broader historical event that includes promotion of equality of other segregated groups, such as women, LGBT representatives, and others. Thus, the movie makers should have included in the title that the plot will be focused on African American Civil Rights Movement, instead of a general one. Also, the movie is somewhat unbalanced, showing footage of Martin Luther King Jr., but not mentioning Malcolm X’s contribution in the Movement.
All in all, the movie will be very interesting to those, who love soul and blues music and would like to learn more about the fascinating history behind its creation. Let Freedom Sing gives the viewer a deeper insight into the actual impact music can has on the development and expansion of the freedom movements, as well as hardships that activists, including political figures, songwriters, singers and other artists can incur while fighting for a better future for their descendants.
Works Cited
Let Freedom Sing: How Music Inspired the Civil Rights Movement. Dir. Jon Goodman. Perf. Louis Gossett Jr., Chuck D, Gladys Knight, Isaac Hayes, Jerry Butler, Mavis Staples, Pete Seeger, Quincy Jones, Ruby Dee, Ruth Brown. Time Life, 2009. DVD.
