The African-American Civil Rights Movement - Assignment Example

This is also the reason African American music is considered the official “soundtrack” of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Thirdly, African-American churches were grounds and sources for participants of the movement to gather, pray, and sing. These songs were composed under the same church conditions. Religion influenced the type of songs the movement used for demonstration and driving their demands across (Reed 29). Songs composed by churches tackled themes about deliverance, faith, redemption, and liberation. A majority of these songs slowly adapted new meanings within the movement to address issues of social change and struggle.

Fourthly, the African-American civil-rights movement used music to conjure resistance. For instance, the renowned activist song “We Shall Not Be Moved” was challenging because of its rebellious theme even though it supported a strong idea of nonaggression (Reed 34). Discrimination of European Americans against African Americans used the African American community as a display on which to project suppressed feelings and ways of life, particularly gender and aggression.