Source: American Experience

Listen to a song the Freedom Riders sang as they entered Jackson, Mississippi. Consider the impact of freedom singing.

Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12

Subjects: Social Studies, The Arts

Topics: Cultural Studies: African American Studies. United States History: 1945-early 1970s. Music.

Resource Type: Audio

Source: American Experience

Review one of the songs used by protesters at lunch counter sit-ins during the Civil Rights Movement. Describe how the traditional words of the spiritual were changed to reflect the goals of the protesters.

Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12

Subjects: Social Studies, The Arts

Topics: Cultural Studies: African American Studies. United States History: 1945-early 1970s. Music.

Resource Type: Audio

Source: American Experience

Analyze a song made popular during the Poor People's Campaign of 1968. Compare the lyrics to Pete Seeger's "Everybody's Got a Right to Live."

Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12

Subjects: Social Studies, The Arts

Topics: Cultural Studies: African American Studies. United States History: 1945-early 1970s. Music.

Resource Type: Audio

Source: American Experience

Explore how jailed protesters in Albany sang out the names of their captors, as in this adaptation of a well-known spiritual, demanding that the police chief, Laurie Pritchett, and the mayor, Asa Kelley, "open this cell."

Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12

Subjects: Social Studies, The Arts

Topics: Civics: Civil and Human Rights. United States History: 1945-early 1970s. Music.

Resource Type: Audio