All language subtitles for Let.Freedom.Sing.2009.WEBRip.x264-ION10_English

In 1967, I wrote a--
an anti-war song

called "Handsome Johnny"
for Richie Havens.

It was about what was
going on in Birmingham

and elsewhere in the South.

I was fortunate to meet

some of the heroes
of the Civil Rights Movement

and those who created
its anthems.

Every year,
their numbers grow fewer.

This film is a tribute to them

and all that they've achieved.

♪ It's the pride ♪

-♪ That you need ♪
-Yeah!

Ahh!

♪ Sock it to me,
sock it to me ♪

♪ A little respect ♪

♪ Sock it to me,
sock it to me ♪

♪ Oh, freedom ♪

♪ You gets up, you stand up ♪

♪ Uh-huh ♪

♪ Say it loud ♪

♪ I'm black and I'm proud ♪

[man] Now, in order for us
to know who we are,

we got to know who we was.

And once we know who we was,

then we know
who we're gonna be, you dig?

Proud.

[crowd chanting]

[man]
Bring 'em up with some pride.

[piano playing]

[Louis Gossett, Jr.]
The Civil Rights Movement

began with the teachings
and the music of the church.

[Mahalia Jackson]
♪ I'm on my way ♪

♪ To Canaan land ♪

[chanting]

♪ I'm on my way ♪

♪ Well, to Canaan land ♪

[Louis Gossett, Jr.]
Even in the days of slavery,

spirituals drew a parallel

between the Israelites
enslaved in Egypt

and African-Americans
enslaved here.

"Go down, Moses.

"Way down in Egypt's land.

Set my people free."

[man]
How important is gospel music
to the soul genre?

I guess it is
the genesis of it,

not only of that genre,

but I think it is the genesis
of all music.

Everybody
came out of the church.

That was required learning.

We had to go to church.

[Mahalia Jackson]
♪ Glory hallelujah ♪

♪ I'm on my way ♪

[dogs barking]

You have to understand
that that was our survival

during all of those
struggled times
and that kind of thing.

It was all about our faith

and, uh, the spiritual music

that we held onto

that was so much a part of us.

Basically about having
felt the pain so deeply

with no place else to go

that you only can resort
to the bottom of your soul

to express the feeling.

The question is did the music
affect the Movement,

or did the Movement
affect the music?

And it's one of those
chicken-and-egg
kind of questions.

♪ If you don't go ♪

♪ Don't hinder me ♪

♪ On my way ♪

I think life governs
what people are feeling
musically.

The music was the soul
of the Movement.

It just seemed like
that's what made it happen.

♪ On my way, yeah ♪

♪ On my way
Glory hallelujah ♪

♪ On my way ♪

[jazz trumpet playing]

[Gossett] In 1939,

a left-leaning
New York schoolteacher,

Abel Meeropol,

wrote a song protesting
the lynching
of African-Americans.

He pulled no punches.

[Billie Holliday]
♪ Southern trees ♪

♪ Bear strange fruit ♪

You can do so many things
with lyrics within a song,

whether it's rap,

whether it's R&B,
whether it's gospel.

Even jazz.

♪ Black bodies swingin' ♪

♪ In the southern breeze ♪

[Young]
I was born in New Orleans.

Your parents had to teach you

to live in a segregated South

because one misstep
could cost you your life.

I was looking at a picture once

of a lynching in the paper.

My mother came,
and she took the paper
away from me

because I couldn't sleep
from the horror of things.

Between 1889 and the year
this song was written,

there were nearly 4,000
documented lynchings

in the United States.

[Holiday]
♪ Strange fruit hangin' ♪

♪ From the poplar trees ♪

[man] Because during
that time, man,

they was hanging us.

They was putting us
in the Pearl River.

They was doing
all kinds of things to us.

[Holiday] ♪ Pastoral scene ♪

♪ Of the gallant South ♪

♪ The bulging eyes ♪

♪ And the twisted mouth ♪

[Gossett]
Meeropol's song encouraged

other left-leaning
singing songwriters

like Pete Seeger
to funnel their outrage
into music.

♪ Sweet and fresh ♪

When you sing,
all that experience
goes into that song.

All of those things
that you lived through

goes into that song.

And I think that's
where the music comes from,

and that's where the stories
and the lyrics that come from.

They got to
part of the underpinning

and the foundation
for this marriage

between the Civil Rights
Movement and music.

♪ For the rain to gather ♪

♪ For the wind to suck ♪

♪ For the sun to rot ♪

♪ For the tree ♪

♪ To ♪

♪ Drop ♪

♪ Here is a strange ♪

♪ And bitter ♪

♪ Crop ♪

[acoustic blues music playing]

[Gossett] The voice of protest

began to be heard outside the church.

♪ When I was born
into this world ♪

♪ This is what happened
to me ♪

♪ I was never called a man ♪

♪ Now I'm 53 ♪

♪ I wonder when ♪

[Gossett] Back in the 1930s,

Broonzy was one of the first
Chicago blues stars.

But he'd grown up down south,

and he began writing about the South as he knew it.

[Broonzy]
♪ Wait till I get 93 ♪

What you really have to do
is put your--

put on the 1948 glasses,
as the historians say,

and look at that world in 1948.

Memphis was already 40% black,

and no one
even cared about it,

and you look at the music
that was being
played on the radio

at that particular time.

So what you're getting is

"I'm Looking Over
a Four-Leaf Clover" or

♪ How much is that doggie
in the window? ♪

[easy listening strings]

It was as if
the African-American
community was invisible,

like they didn't exist.

[Broonzy] ♪ They said I was uneducated ♪

♪ My clothes was worn, torn ♪

♪ Now I've got
a little education ♪

♪ But I'm a boy right on ♪

♪ I wonder when ♪

About the years
of the Second World War,

there were basically
no radio stations

that played anything
by black people.

You had a printed media.

African-American magazines,

those things existed
for years.

But no one was pitching
the programming

at the black audience
electronically.

[announcer]
Now WDIA presents--

[jazz organ]

...Anything Goes.

Anything Goes, the gospel show

where anything can happen.

The station started out
as an all-white station.

They tried everything,
all kinds of music,

various kinds of music.

And it simply wasn't working.

Uh, they couldn't do
anything in the ratings.

Up until that time,
you were dealing

with the old stereotypes
in the media,

and so they decided to try
an African-American announcer,

uh, in 1948.

Nat Williams comes on the air,

and he's put on
for an hour or so,

and the station is, of course,

inundated
with all these letters.

From the home of colorful
old Beale Street,

the place where the blues
began in Memphis, Tennessee.

[Gossett]
Stars of the '50s and '60s

were influenced by WDIA.

Riley King became B.B.
at WDIA,

and across town,

Elvis Presley
was listening and learning.

[Louis Cantor]
Suddenly they realized
they'd struck a gold mine.

It was revolutionary.

it gave black people
an identity.

It gave black people
a radio station

that they could call their own.

I heard
my first black broadcast

on the radio station WDIA.

Uh, Nat D. Williams.

[Cantor]
It took them about a year.

It was about the summer of '49

before it was
an all-black station.

You know, it's just like
when we were coming up,

we went to all-black schools.

We didn't know nothing
but that,

and we had
our own little world.

But when they started
to integrate schools,

we got a chance
to know another culture

and another way of living.

And I think that's what
happened with black music.

[man] This is Rufus Thomas
ofSepia Swing.

Gonna try to make you
laugh and sing.

Gonna have a ball.
My all I'm giving.

Say it, sister.
Say it, brother. Say it!

[man] Man, I'm really livin'.

[Rufus] That's right!

You've got to understand
the enormous audience
that WDIA had.

When they went 50,000 watts,

they boomed their signal
directionally,

and it went due south,

right into the heart
of the delta.

They were hitting 10%

of the total
African-American community
in the United States.

1.5 million people.

[man] Now listen, I want you
to listen to me now

as I talk to you
about Marble White Flour.

-Pink Pussycat Wine.
-[meow]

The New York State wine.

-I repeat-- Pink Pussycat Wine.
-[meow]

Not only is it tearing down
the walls of segregation,

not only is it appealing
to that black audience

and empowering black people,

but it's also making
black music acceptable

and respectable
to the white mainstream.

The more popular it got,

the more it filtered out
into other areas

in other-- to other peoples

and communities.

[announcer]
You've been listening

to the award-winning
public affairs forum

Brown America Speaks

and to the personal opinions of informed and well-known Memphis and mid-south citizens.

Listen for another
interesting forum discussion

of a controversial...

The floodgates were open.
Almost immediately

you got a station
in Birmingham,

a station in Atlanta,

uh, become an all-black
program station.

All the radio stations
across the country

began to incorporate
some African-American
programming

in their daily output.

You could get WLAC.

About 8:00, it would
be white gospel.

And by 10:00, it became...

black gospel,

and then at 11,

it became rhythm and blues.

And that went on

till, like, about
2 in the morning.

[switching radio channels]

[Gossett] The new R&B stations

played songs that had
more heart and soul

than the music
on mainstream stations.

And sometimes
that music had a message.

♪ Oh, we're knockin'
at the Pearly Gates ♪

♪ Oh, knock-knock ♪

♪ Knock-knock ♪

♪ Ask about the rooms ♪

♪ About the rates ♪

♪ Oh, knock-knock ♪

♪ Knock-knock ♪

The media dramatically impacted
the direction
of the Civil Rights Movement

because it was coming
over the radio.

It was coming over the TV.

♪ Well, old St. Peter
was the official greeter ♪

♪ He was present
to let him in ♪

♪ Some looked down because the skins were brown ♪

♪ But old Pete hollered
with a great big grin ♪

♪ You're welcome,
y'all come on in ♪

♪ There are no "Restricted" signs in heaven ♪

["Heck" Watkins] I watched a lot of television,

national news,

to find out what was happening
in Alabama,

what was happening in Arkansas, what was happening in Georgia

and other Southern states,

and that's when realization
began to set in--

off in my mind,
off in my heart,

"Hey, something is wrong."

♪ They looked around,
and what did they see? ♪

♪ Black angels, white angels ♪

♪ Sons of David and Chinese ♪

♪ You didn't have
to look swell ♪

♪ For this hotel ♪

♪ You could even come in
in your dungarees ♪

♪ You were welcome ♪

♪ Welcome ♪

[Gossett] Before long,
African-American music

found an audience
it hadn't counted on.

I grew up listening
to Paul Robeson's songs.

I grew up listening
to the Golden Gate Quartet.

♪ Brother ♪

[Gossett]
Music engaged and energized

a generation of young people,
black and white.

♪ Hallelujah ♪

[Gossett] They weren't going
to accept the old excuse

"It's always been that way."

[woman] As an individual,

I was ready to get involved

and to participate in something
to change our situations.

Ever since I can remember,

I resented our conditions.

♪ And he spoke to the young ♪

♪ In their native tongue ♪

♪ You are all ♪

♪ My guest ♪

♪ If you keep in mind ♪

♪ That there are no "Restricted" signs in heaven ♪

♪ No elected clientele ♪

♪ There are no "Restricted" signs in heaven ♪

♪ Brother, brother ♪

♪ That goes double ♪

♪ Oh, hal ♪

♪ Hallelujah ♪

♪ Oh, ah ♪

♪ Hallelujah ♪

[Gossett]
White listeners were few,

but they were there.

[Paul Breines]
I would go to parties,

and typically, um,

the music would be
Elvis Presley

or Pat Boone.

But for me, I knew

that what Little Richard
was singing

was very different
from what Pat Boone
was singing,

even when Pat Boone
sang the same song.

What it had to do with
was a kind of creativity

which was not coming
from the immediate world

that I was in, of white people.

And I knew
that very few people

in my class--
in high school again--

would be interested
in that music.

They-- Because it was too,
so to speak, colored.

It was too tainted.
it was too outside.

And in some way,
that's exactly
what I liked about it.

And certainly
there was a connection

between listening to that music

and going on the Freedom Rides.

No doubt.

[Mahalia Jackson]
♪ I'm on my way ♪

♪ To Canaan land ♪

♪ I'm on my way ♪

♪ Well, to Canaan land ♪

♪ On my way, oh, yes ♪

♪ To Canaan land ♪

[Gossett] The early Civil Rights leaders

were mostly from the church,

so it was no surprise

that most of the early
Civil Rights music

was also from the church.

That would change soon enough.

[Mahalia Jackson]
♪ Goin' to Canaan land ♪

Now, Martin Luther King
was part of--

he was part of the middle-class
Baptist church,

and I was part

of the middle class
Congregational church.

♪ Keep your eyes
on me bright ♪

♪ O Lord, O Lord ♪

[man] But the Movement was by and large the masses...

and they were much closer
to the spirituals...

uh, and not the spirituals

as arranged by the Fisk
Jubilee Singers, see,

but the spirituals as Mahalia

and the old-time gospel
singers sang them.

The Five Blind Boys of Alabama.

Uh, we used to listen
to that every morning
in my house,

and that's the way
you started your Sunday.

♪ Well, free at last,
free at last ♪

♪ Thank God Almighty,
I'm free at last ♪

♪ One day, one day,
I was walking alone ♪

♪ Thank God Almighty,
I'm free at last ♪

♪ I heard a voice,
but I saw no one ♪

♪ Thank God Almighty,
I'm free at last ♪

♪ I'm free at last ♪

[Gossett]
"Free at last, free at last.

Thank God Almighty,
I'm free at last."

The words
of that old spiritual

would stay
with a young minister,

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Years later,
he'd make those words

into the cornerstone
of one of his
most famous speeches.

♪ Free at last ♪

♪ I'm free at last ♪

-♪ Free at last ♪
-♪ Thank God ♪

♪ Thank God Almighty,
I'm free at last ♪

♪ I'm free at last ♪

♪ Free at last ♪

Well, being raised up
in the Baptist Church,

music is very strong,

very strong with us.

Music helps you to focus
on where you're going

and the words and the beat.

Well, when you hear it...

it's like, uh,
it's like a-- a-- a--

like someone gives you a pill
and you're feeling bad

and this-- and-- and this pill
kind of perks you up.

♪ Ah, Lord, I ♪

♪ I shall not be moved ♪

♪ Shall not be moved ♪

♪ I shall not be moved ♪

♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
oh, I... ♪

The song that stick with me
is "I Shall Not Be Moved."

♪ ...shall not be moved ♪

♪ I shall not... ♪

"I Shall Not Be Moved,"

and, uh, that one helped me
in a demonstration

once in Nashville.
This is, uh--

This is '60.
This was at, um, a stand-in

at the theaters,
and this fellow walked
up to me, white fella,

with a cigarette.
He said he's gonna
put it out on my face.

And so what was in my head then

is "I shall not be moved."

♪ I shall not be moved ♪

♪ Shall not be moved ♪

♪ I shall not be moved ♪

[Brooks] In the moment that
I'm standing there,

I'm thinking about
that we should not be moved

and-- and seeing it
in my mind,

putting my mind
strongly on that.

I think what made him
turn around,

he didn't see fear.

I think he saw
a strong person there.

♪ I shall not be... ♪

And he didn't see
any fear on my face.

♪ ...Shall not be moved ♪

♪ One, one
One thing I heard ♪

♪ Shall not... ♪

♪ I heard a voice ♪

[Paul Breines] When I was 20,
Ezell Blair

and the three other young men
from North Carolina A&T

in 1961 started the sit-ins.

They were my first role models.

They-- They provided me
with a picture

of what it meant
to be-- in effect,

what it meant to be a citizen.

When the Freedom Rides
started the next spring,

I was very excited about that

and went to a fund raiser

that the Congress
of Racial Equality
had arranged,

and I remember looking
at my girlfriend Winnie

and saying, "I'm-- I'm going."

♪ Ah, where the valleys ♪

♪ Where the valleys ♪

-♪ Go to slope ♪
-♪ They're gonna stay ♪

My parents were
a young hip couple.

So the struggles
that were going on

in the South
at that particular time

and-- and heard about
on the radio,

read about in Ebonyand Jet,

as a kid, you couldn't help

but to be kind of
conscious of the fact

that there was
something going on

that wasn't fun and games,
that was really,
you know, serious.

[man] Yeah! Yeah!
Come on! Come on!

'Cause the music of that time
was that of inspiration, hope.

♪ Shall not be moved ♪

♪ I shall not be moved ♪

The Freedom Rides
actually was started

by CORE:
Congress of Racial Equality.

The bus in Anniston
was bombed,

and the Trailway Bus
went to Birmingham.

That's where
they were pulled off,

and the Freedom Riders
were beaten.

Jim Peck had about 50 stitches

to close his wounds
in his head.

And Governor John Patterson
at that time

refused to give any kind
of local protection

to the Freedom Riders.

[angry shouting]

[man] Help me, somebody! Help!

[angry shouting]

[announcer]
Explosive demonstrations

rocked the North
as well as the South

as Negroes struggled
for equal opportunities.

[angry shouting]

[man] Send 'em all back!

[Brooks] And what really
sticks in my mind,

which I can almost see 'em now,

is the white women
with the babies

screaming "Kill them.

Kill them."

The real test of non-violence

is not how much violence
is perpetrated against you,

but it's your response.

How do you respond
to violence?

Make way. Get back.

CORE decided that
they would respond
to Robert Kennedy's request,

and that was, to, um,
have a cooling-off period

rather than getting
someone killed.

When CORE decided

that it was too dangerous
to continue,

we said, "It must continue.
We can't stop here.

We must, uh, go through."

I was ready.

♪ I shall not be ♪

♪ Moved ♪

When you're 18,
you tend not to be as afraid.

We left at night
because we would not

be as visible to people
outside the bus.

We were not attacked en route.

The trip to the Jackson
bus terminal

was without incident.

And, um, what I do remember
is, getting off the bus,

the nervousness
that I had begun to feel

when I got off the bus,
a sudden anxiety

that I could be seriously hurt.

[man over P.A] Go home,.

Go home!

I had never felt that before.

Being black meant
you felt that...a lot.

There was a paddy wagon
outside. There were cops.
There was a crowd.

And then there was noise.
We were pushed.
We were shoved.

People tried to punch us.
I was not familiar

with that kind
of unbridled hatred.

♪ Ain't gonna let nobody ♪

♪ Turn me round ♪

[Gossett] It was 1960.

The white backlash was only beginning.

It, too, had music,

but it was the music
of intolerance and hatred.

I recall the group

going inside the Greyhound
bus station,

which was located
on LaMar Street.

A friend of mine,
we kinda went over
to see what was happening.

I ended up inside
of the Greyhound bus station,

and there I was arrested.

I was 14 at the time.

[woman]
♪ Ain't gonna let no fear ♪

♪ Turn me round ♪

[Brooks] It was in jail that
13-year-old "Heck" Watkins

and those around him
learned how to draw strength
from the Movement's songs.

♪ Turn me round ♪

-♪ Keep on a-walkin' ♪
-[angry shouting]

♪ Keep on a-talkin' ♪

♪ Marchin' up
to Freedom Land ♪

[Watkins] It was in jail
here in Jackson--
it was a 20-bed cell--

I recall the guards
would come in at night

and...and throw keys

and throw different objects
in the cell on us.

And we decided that
"Hey, this is enough.
No more. No more."

I recall quite vividly

um, a guy by the name
of James Bevel,

a black, um, minister
during the time,

and, um, he started off...

♪ I ain't gonna let nobody ♪

♪ Turn me round ♪

♪ Turn me round ♪

And, man, it seemed
as though his voice

of the song just--

well, just energized all of us.

[woman] ♪ Ain't gonna
let intimidation ♪

♪ Turn me round ♪

-[man] ♪ Oh ♪
-♪ Turn me round ♪

-♪ Yeah-eah-eah ♪
-♪ Turn me round ♪

-[woman] ♪ Ain't gonna
let intimidation ♪

♪ Turn me round ♪

♪ Keep on a-walkin' ♪

-♪ Lordy ♪
-♪ Keep on a-talkin' ♪

-♪ Oh ♪
-♪ Marchin' up ♪

♪ To Freedom Land ♪

[Gossett]
Over in Birmingham, Alabama,

Martin Luther King
was leading the struggle.

"We had moved out
of the 16th Street
Baptist church,

day after day,"
he would write later.

"By the hundreds
we would move out.

"And Police Commissioner
Bull Connor would tell them

"to send the dogs forth,
and they did come.

"But we just went
before the dogs singing

'Ain't gonna let nobody
turn me around'."

[woman] ♪ Ain't gonna let
injustice, my Lord... ♪

[Watkins]
We began singing the songs,

and we kinda chained
ourself together.

♪ Turn me around ♪

♪ Ain't gonna let
injustice, my Lord ♪

♪ Turn me around ♪

♪ I'm gonna
keep on a-walkin' ♪

♪ And just keep on a-talkin' ♪

♪ While I'm marchin'
up to Freedom Land ♪

And we was ready
for whatever came
through that door.

Whatever they put
on us that day,

we was gonna put it
back on them.

And I really think
they had a sense of something,

'cause we was singing
all the time, you know.

That was basically
what we did...

uh, sang songs.

Um...but this particular song

and at this particular moment,

we felt like Hercules.

[male vocalist]
♪ Oh, you don't you ♪

♪ Let nobody ♪

♪ Turn you around ♪

[Gossett] The freedom songs
worked two ways.

They inspired those in jail

and irritated their guards.

When Birmingham's
notorious Police Commissioner
Bull Connor

let the young protestors
out of jail,

he told reporters
that the singing
was making him sick.

♪ Marchin' up
to Freedom Land ♪

And for whatever reason
or reasons, they chose
not to come in that day.

And I could
sit back now and say,
"I'm glad they didn't."

♪ Turn me around ♪

♪ Ain't gonna
let no fear, Lord ♪

♪ Turn me around ♪

♪ I'm gonna
keep on a-walkin' ♪

There was a lot of days in jail

that, like I say,
we didn't have anything to do

but, um, but sing.

♪ Ain't gonna let
intimidation ♪

♪ Turn me around ♪

[man] ♪ Oh ♪

♪ Turn me around ♪

-♪ Yeah-eah-eah ♪
-♪ Turn me around ♪

And I was beaten
several times in the jail,

and the only recourse
we had was to sing.

I recall not being fed
for several days.

The only thing
we could do was sing.

I remember the water
being cut off

and everybody was defecating.

But it couldn't be flushed,
and there was an odor.

What could you do? Sing.

-♪ Oh ♪
-♪ Turn me around ♪

♪ Ain't gonna let this world ♪

♪ Turn me around ♪

[Watkins] And those songs,

it put you in
another state of mind.

It, uh, take you away
from what is at hand.

-♪ Lordy ♪
-♪ Keep on a-talkin' ♪

It just made a difference.

♪ Marchin' up
to Freedom Land ♪

♪ Oh, freedom ♪

[Gossett]
During the movement's
early days,

very few African-American
entertainers

openly associated themselves with it.

But one who supported it
in person

and could always be
called upon for money

was Harry Belafonte.

And Belafonte recorded
many of the spirituals

that were still
driving the movement.

The old gospel stuff
was-- was translated,

and a lot of that was part of--

became move-- they became
movement songs

and with new lyrics.

♪ And before I'll be a slave ♪

♪ I'll be buried in my grave ♪

♪ And go home to my Lord... ♪

It was poetry. They became
as-- almost as common

as love songs
and also direction songs.

[Pete Seeger] I think
the Civil Rights Movement

was a watershed for America,
for the world.

And I'm proud that music
played a part in it.

I get too much credit
because I introduced
some songs,

uh, but I didn't write 'em.

And the people
who really used 'em
were heroic people

in places like
Alabama and Mississippi.

♪ Here's to the State
of Mississippi ♪

♪ For underneath her borders ♪

♪ The devil draws no lines ♪

♪ If you drag
her muddy rivers ♪

♪ Nameless bodies
you will find ♪

[Gossett] Twenty-five years
after Abel Meeropol
wrote "Strange Fruit,"

young folk singers like
Phil Ochs and Bob Dylan

began writing topical songs

that seethed with indignation.

The folk community

and the things that were
happening in America

were extraordinarily
intimate for us,

and yet we were
very far from it.

And there was
a shyness about why--

"Why do white kids care
about our stories?"

But somehow, that blew over.

When I came to B.U.
theater school in 1958,

Joan Baez and I were
in the same class.

Dylan was in and out
of the Cambridge scene
back in those days.

He sort of picked up
his Cambridge tribe,

and there were
about eight of us.

There was a sense
of empowerment

that we were sort of handed
through the music.

And we could choose
to turn around

and be better people.

♪ It's a long walk to D.C. ♪

♪ But I got
my walkin' shoes on ♪

[Mavis Staple]
We were in Montgomery,
Alabama.

Pop said
"This man Martin is here.

And, um, I like his message."

He'd been hearing
Dr. King on the radio.

And he said,
"He has a church here.

I want to go
to his 11:00 service.

Do you all want to go?"

We said, "Yeah, Dad,
we want to go."

We went to Dr. King's church.

He said, "I'm glad
to have Pop Staples
and his daughters here."

When the service was over,
Dr. King was standing
at the door.

Then Pops, he stood there
and talked to him for a while.

Well, after Pops
finally came on,

we went back to the hotel.

He called us to his room.

He said, "Listen, y'all.

I really like
this man's message.

I really like his message.

And I think that
if he can preach it,
we can sing it."

And we began writing
freedom songs.

We joined a movement.

Then we wrote
"It's A Long Walk to D.C.,

But I Got
My Walking Shoes On."

♪ I got to see the president ♪

♪ No matter what it takes ♪

♪ I tell ya, it's
a long walk to D.C., yeah ♪

♪ Come on, oh, yes, I am ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ But I know
I'll make it someday ♪

♪ I know it's a whole lot
of rocks and rivs ♪

[Siggins]
And it brought home to us

a thing that has never
changed in most of us,

that there were things that
needed fixing in this country.

[Seeger]
I don't think there was

any political movement
in history

that had as much singing
as the Civil Rights
Movement had,

right from the start.

December 1955,

when the Bus Boycott started,

right up through the '60s.

New songs every month.

Quite often they were
gospel songs with new words.

I learned "We Shall Overcome"

in 1946 or 1947

from Zilphia Horton.

However, it was a fellow
ten years younger than I,

Guy Carawan,

who introduced it
to the young members

of the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee,

known as SNCC for short.

And they said,
"Oh, this is a song."

And a month later,

it was all
through the country--

not just a song,
it was the song.

And they gave it
the gospel beat.

And they added
this holding hands, crossed.

Your left hand
holds the right hand
of somebody to your right,

and your right hand
holds the left hand
of somebody to your left.

And you sway.

Ahh, the song's gone
around the world.

South Africa knows it.

India-- it's sung in all
the schools of India
in their local language.

Astonishing.

♪ We shall overcome ♪

♪ Someday ♪

We'll walk hand in hand.

♪ We'll walk hand in hand ♪

I mean, you sang up
on your nerve,

Uh, and you get knocked down,

you get back up,
and you go on again.

-You don't stop.
-[crowd shouting]

The message of the music

carries you forward
when you don't understand,

and you can't
argue it logically.

♪ We are not afraid ♪

♪ We are not afraid ♪

♪ We are not afraid ♪

[man] Today!

♪ Today ♪

[shouting]

[vocalizing]

White, black, everybody
was writing songs.

When I look at my song books,
they came from everywhere.

♪ How many roads
must a man walk down ♪

♪ Before you call him a man? ♪

[Gossett]
Just a few weeks before
the March on Washington,

a folk trio,
Peter, Paul and Mary,

recorded a song
by a little-known
singer and songwriter,

Bob Dylan.

They sang it in Washington
for the hundreds of thousands
there that day,

and the millions more
watching on television.

It was a song that Dylan
had set to an old spiritual,

"No More Auction Block
For Me."

♪ The answer, my friend ♪

♪ Is blowin' in the wind ♪

♪ The answer is
blowin' in the wind ♪

The music was
as varied as the people.

But there was always music.

I say the reason communism
failed in the South

is they don't sing.

♪ Yes, and how many times
must a man look up ♪

♪ Before he can see the sky? ♪

♪ Yes, and how many ears ♪

♪ Must one man have ♪

♪ Before he can
hear people cry? ♪

♪ Yes, and how many deaths ♪

♪ Will it take till he knows ♪

♪ That too many
people have died? ♪

♪ The answer, my friend ♪

♪ Is blowin' in the wind ♪

♪ The answer
is blowin' in the wind ♪

[harmonica playing]

One more classic
came indirectly

from the March on Washington.

Sam Cooke heard the song
"Blowin' in the Wind,"

and he decided
that rhythm and blues

needed to catch up
with the times.

So he resolved to write a song.

And, then, a few weeks later,

he was trying to register
at an all-white Holiday Inn,

and he was arrested
for disturbing the peace.

That song is
"A Change is Gonna Come."

Sam, he never lived
to hear that song come out

because he was killed
just as it was released.

♪ I was born ♪

♪ By the river ♪

♪ Oh, my ♪

♪ In this little old town ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Just like this river ♪

♪ I've been running
ever since ♪

♪ It's been a long, long ♪

♪ Long time coming ♪

♪ But I know, but I know ♪

♪ A change has gotta come ♪

[man] Otis Redding
did a lot of other Sam Cooke
songs on his albums,

but his version of
"A Change is Gonna Come"

might be the most soulful
of all the versions.

And there's been
dozens and dozens
of versions of that song,

but I don't think anyone
ever made it better

than Otis Redding.

♪ Long time coming ♪

♪ But I know, but I know ♪

♪ Change has gotta come ♪

♪ Oh, yes, it is now ♪

♪ There's a time ♪

♪ I will go to my brother ♪

♪ Oh, my ♪

♪ I've asked my brother ♪

♪ Will you help me, please? ♪

♪ Oh, now, oh, my ♪

♪ He turned me down ♪

♪ And then I asked
my dear mother ♪

♪ Oh, now ♪

♪ I said, Mother,
I said, Mother ♪

♪ I'm down on my knees ♪

♪ It's been a time
that I thought ♪

♪ Lord, this couldn't
last very long ♪

♪ Oh, now, oh ♪

♪ But somehow I thought
I was still able ♪

♪ To try to carry on ♪

♪ It's been a long ♪

When I hear songs like
"A Change is Gonna Come,"

I reflect back
to what I was doing

when that record came out.

Was I in jail?

Was I going to
a community organization?

[Gossett] Change was coming.

In July of 1964,

nearly a year after
the March on Washington,

America's new president,
Lyndon Johnson,

signed the landmark
Civil Rights bill

integrating schools
and outlawing discrimination
in public places.

That same year,
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

was awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize.

[man] Well, everybody
was watching TV.

Everybody saw
what was happening,

particularly down South,
with the water hoses

and everything else negative
that was happening
at that time.

So, naturally,
"A Change is Gonna Come"

meant a lot to a lot of people.

[Otis] ♪ That I thought ♪

♪ Lord, this couldn't
last very long ♪

♪ Oh, my, oh ♪

♪ But somehow I thought
I was still able ♪

♪ To try to carry on ♪

♪ It's been a long, long ♪

♪ Long time comin' ♪

♪ But I know, but I know ♪

When we started
a movement in a town,

the way we started was
we went in singing

the old spirituals
that they sang.

See, and then we'd gradually

switch those
into freedom songs.

Songs were very important

because this is one
of the ways we determined

whether or not a community
was ready for a movement.

The first song
that people actually sang

in Selma, Alabama,

uh, it was actually
three girls--

three little girls--
started singing this song.

And these three little girls

was the thing
that really inspired me

when they started singing
"Freedom Is A-Comin'"

And no one
taught them this song.

They made it up themselves.

And then people just
continued to add to them.

It went something like...

♪ Freedom is a-coming ♪

♪ And it won't be long ♪

♪ Freedom is a-coming ♪

♪ Help us sing this song ♪

♪ Freedom is a-coming ♪

♪ And it won't be long ♪

♪ If you want to be free ♪

♪ Come and go with me ♪

♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪

♪ We are fighting
for our equal rights ♪

♪ So come and join
in the fight ♪

♪ We're singing along ♪

♪ I hope we're not alone ♪

♪ People get ready ♪

♪ There's a train a-comin' ♪

♪ You don't need no baggage ♪

♪ You just get on board ♪

♪ All you need is faith ♪

♪ To hear
the diesels hummin' ♪

♪ Don't need no ticket ♪

♪ You just thank the Lord ♪

[LaFayette] The singing
was a form of protest,

but more than that.

A song was what
you'd call healing for us...

because we suffered
many wounds.

[Gossett] "People Get Ready"
wasn't an angry song.

It was almost blissful.

But as one civil rights
activist said,

it was warrior music--

the music you listen to
while preparing for a march
or demonstration.

[Andrew Young]
Those were the songs that
the disc jockeys played,

and they selected those, see?

They could not make
any announcements,

even about our mass meetings.

And they could not report,

but they always attended
our mass meetings.

And they always found some way

to use some songs

uh, to let people know--

I mean, one I remember
in that context
was "People Get Ready."

Well, Curtis started
in a gospel group.

And Jerry Butler was also
in that group for a time.

And that became,
essentially, The Impressions.

Curtis Mayfield was

one of the real legitimate
geniuses of our time.

And it was out of his playing,

and out of his
concept of music,

that The Impressions
became what they were.

[man] If you listen
to The Impressions' music--

"People Get Ready" or "Amen,"

"Meeting Over Yonder"--

you really hear
the gospel roots

coming right out of Curtis.

He was trying to be
socially conscious about
the Civil Rights Movement

and the plight of his people
at that time.

♪ People get ready ♪

♪ There's a train a-comin' ♪

♪ You don't need no baggage ♪

♪ You just get on board ♪

♪ All you need is faith ♪

♪ To hear
the diesels hummin' ♪

♪ You don't need no ticket ♪

♪ You just thank the Lord ♪

[Gossett] Years later,

a panel of musicians
and songwriters,

including Paul McCartney
and Brian Wilson,

voted "People Get Ready"

one of the ten best
songs of all time.

♪ There ain't no room ♪

♪ For the hopeless sinner ♪

♪ Who would hurt all mankind ♪

♪ Just to save his own ♪

♪ Have pity on those ♪

♪ Whose chances grow thinner ♪

♪ For there's
no hiding place ♪

♪ Against
the Kingdom's throne ♪

♪ You know, there's
no hiding place ♪

♪ There's no hiding place ♪

♪ So people get ready ♪

♪ There's a train a-comin' ♪

♪ You don't need no baggage ♪

♪ You just get on board ♪

♪ All you need is faith ♪

♪ To hear
the diesels hummin' ♪

♪ You don't need no ticket ♪

♪ You just thank the Lord ♪

♪ I say you just
thank the Lord ♪

♪ You just thank the Lord ♪

♪ That's why I'm here to say ♪

♪ That I believe ♪

♪ I believe ♪

♪ We're gonna make it ♪

♪ We're gonna make it
as a human race ♪

♪ People, I believe ♪

♪ I believe, I believe ♪

♪ I believe ♪

♪ You don't need no ticket ♪

♪ You just thank ♪

♪ The Lord ♪

♪ People get ready ♪

♪ People get ready now ♪

We were successfully
doing something every day

that could not be achieved
outside the studios.

Firstly, we'd integrated.

That was unique.

That is part of the life of creative people

in that we live in a place
that's a little different

because what we do creatively

is try to interpret
what's going on around us.

[Gossett]
Until the Civil Rights Act,

it was illegal for black
and white musicians

to perform together
on stage in Memphis.

But they worked together
in the Stax Studio

to produce hits
for Otis Redding,

Sam and Dave,
and many, many others.

We worked quite well together.

I think that was a first,
as I knew it,

the first integrated

session musicians in a studio--

uh, Stax.

It was in the forefront.

We did a lot
of groundbreaking things.

Uh, I remember
the first integrated band
playing a nightclub

was Ben Branch.

He had a guitarist, a white boy
named Charlie Freeman.

And it was a big deal.
Can you believe it?

In those days-- [mock gasping]

white boy playing with
a bunch of black guys,
it was a big deal.

[Horne]
And it was about "Be free."

"Be your own person."

How do you relate to others?
How do you think about others?

How do you demand, uh,

respect for your own dignity
and dignify others?

[Gossett]
But progress was slow--

too slow for some.

We were tired as.
We weren't going
to take it anymore.

And the songs started
to reflect that.

♪ Hound dogs on my trail ♪

♪ School children sittin' in jail ♪

♪ Black cat cross my path ♪

♪ I think every day's
gonna be my last ♪

♪ Lord have mercy
on this land of mine ♪

♪ We all gonna get it
in due time ♪

♪ I don't belong here ♪

♪ I don't belong there ♪

♪ I've even stopped
believing in prayer ♪

♪ Don't tell me ♪

♪ I'll tell you ♪

♪ Me and my people
just about due ♪

♪ I've been there so I know ♪

♪ They keep on saying
"Go slow" ♪

♪ That's what they said,
"Go slow" ♪

♪ That's what they said,
"Go slow" ♪

-♪ That's what's the trouble ♪-Do it slow!

-♪ Washing the windows ♪
-Do it slow!

-♪ Picking the cotton ♪
-Do it slow!

-♪ When I've been rotten ♪
-Do it slow!

-♪ You're too lazy ♪-Do it slow!

-♪ My thinking's crazy ♪
-Do it slow!

♪ Where am I going? ♪

♪ What am I doing? ♪

♪ I don't know ♪

♪ I don't know ♪

♪ Just try to do
your very best ♪

♪ Stand up, be counted
with all the rest ♪

♪ For everybody knows ♪

♪ About Mississippi
♪

Yeah.

[vocalizing]

[Gossett] The song is Simone's
response to the murder

of civil rights worker
Medgar Evers

and the bombing
of the 16th Street
Baptist Church

in Birmingham.

♪ Picket lines,
school boycotts ♪

♪ They try to say
it's a communist plot ♪

♪ But all I want is equality ♪

♪ For my sister, my brother ♪

♪ My people, and me ♪

♪ My people and me ♪

♪ You lied to me
all these years ♪

♪ You told me to wash
and clean my ears ♪

♪ And talk real fine
just like a lady ♪

♪ And you'd stop callin' me
Sister Sadie ♪

♪ Oh, but my country's
full of lies ♪

♪ We all gonna die
and die like flies ♪

♪ I don't trust
nobody anymore ♪

♪ They keep on sayin'
"Go slow" ♪

♪ Yeah, that's
what they're sayin' ♪

♪ Go slow ♪

-♪ Well, that's
just the trouble ♪
-Do it slow!

-♪ Desegregation ♪
-Do it slow!

♪ Mass participation ♪

Do it slow!

♪ Reunification ♪

Do it slow!

♪ Do things gradually ♪

Do it slow!

♪ Will bring more tragedy ♪

Do it slow!

♪ Well, I don't see it ♪

♪ I don't feel it ♪

♪ I don't know ♪

♪ I don't know ♪

♪ You don't have to
live next to me ♪

♪ Just give me my equality ♪

♪ Everybody knows
about Mississippi ♪

♪ Everybody knows
about Alabama ♪

♪ Everybody knows
about Mississippi ♪

That's it!

It's just like
one of those things
that you can't separate

the news from the music.

You can't separate the pictures
from the voices.

Why is my mother
wearing a afro?

As opposed to three years ago, she was wearing a wig.

The social movements bec--

The movements of protest
became violent.

Non-violence
was dropped very happily

by many in the black movement
and in the white movements
of the 1960s.

You gonna sit in front
of your television set

and listen to LBJ tell you

that "Violence never
accomplishes anything,
my fellow Americans"?

[Gossett] 1967.

The Civil Rights Movement
is fast giving way

to the Black Power Movement.

The real problem with violence

is that we have
never been violent.

We have been too non-violent!

[chanting]

[Gossett]
Then next the rhetoric
becomes so charged

that when Aretha Franklin
records "Respect,"

which was originally
intended to be a love song,

it became an anthem
of black power.

[band playing]

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ What you want ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Baby, I got ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ What you need ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ You know I got it ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ All I'm askin' ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Is for a little respect ♪

-♪ When you get home ♪
-♪ Little bit ♪

-♪ Baby, when you get home ♪
-♪ Little bit ♪

♪ Just a little bit ♪

♪ Mister ♪

♪ Just a little bit ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Ain't gonna do you wrong ♪

♪ While you're gone ♪

-♪ Ain't gonna do you wrong ♪
-♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Because I don't wanna ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ All I'm askin' ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Is for a little respect ♪

-♪ When you get home ♪
-♪ Just a little bit ♪

-♪ Yeah, baby ♪
-♪ Just a little bit ♪

♪ When you get home ♪

♪ Just a little bit ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ Just a little bit ♪

♪ I'm about to give you ♪

♪ All of my money ♪

♪ And all I'm askin' ♪

♪ In return, honey ♪

♪ Is to give me ♪

♪ My propers
when you get home ♪

♪ Justa, justa, justa ♪

♪ Yeah, baby ♪

♪ When you get home ♪

♪ Just a little bit ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ Just a little bit ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

[instrumental playing]

[piano plays intro]

[woman] ♪ Precious ♪

♪ Lord ♪

1968, April 4th.

I was with Martin Luther King

in Memphis.

We had a staff meeting
previously in Atlanta,

planning for
the Poor People's Campaign.

♪ Let me ♪

♪ Stand ♪

And they kept calling
on him in Memphis,

if he'd just come to Memphis
just for one day.

So we regrouped the staff,
and we all went to Memphis.

♪ I ♪

♪ Am weak ♪

♪ I ♪

♪ Am worn ♪

♪ Through ♪

♪ The storm ♪

So we started talking
that night-- the 3rd of April--

on the general campaign
and what we're supposed to do.

Next morning, I got
this thing laid out,

so we were talking
after the staff meeting

about the Poor People's
Campaign

and what I was gonna do
in Washington, D.C.

Out of the blue,
Martin Luther King
said to me--

we were there
alone in the room--

he says, "Now, Bernard,
the next campaign
we gonna have

"is to institutionalize

and internationalize
non-violence."

♪ Take my hand ♪

Those were his last words.

♪ Precious ♪

♪ Lord ♪

[Gossett] At the funeral,

Mahalia Jackson,

Martin Luther King's
favorite singer,

performs "Precious Lord, Take My Hand."

Just minutes
before he was shot,

King had asked
musician Ben Branch

to play the hymn
at the meeting
scheduled for that night.

[man] Burn, baby, burn.

[siren sounding]

Move out! Come on, come on.

Get 'em across.

[Gossett] The assassination
touches off riots

in more than 125 cities
across the country.

♪ I hear somebody cryin' ♪

♪ Mmm, mmm, mmm ♪

♪ Cryin' in the streets ♪

♪ Oh, yes, the are ♪

[sirens wailing]

[angry shouting]

♪ I hear somebody cryin' ♪

♪ Cryin' in the street ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Why they make that...♪

A sniper is only
a coward, not a hero.

And an uncontrolled
or uncontrollable mob

is only the voice of madness,

not the voice of the people.

Dr. King's assassination

impacted, uh,
everybody at Stax.

Musically, I shut down.

I couldn't write.
I couldn't do anything.

I was so bitter...

'cause they had killed
my leader.

But I realized
that I was better suited

in what I do best.

I could influence people
with music.

[White] In 1968,

when Martin Luther King
was assassinated...

...the riots started.

The mayor of Boston then,
Kevin White,

decided to cancel the concert

that was scheduled
at the Boston Garden
with James Brown.

James got on the radio,

and he appealed to folks
to calm down,

and instead of coming
out to the concert,

that he'd made an arrangement
with Channel 2...

a PBS station,

to broadcast the show
live on television.

This country owes
a great thanks to James Brown,

and we're lucky

that we have him
here tonight with us.

[audience chatter]

Give another round of applause
for James Brown.

[cheering and applause]

They could stay home

and watch him do the show.

Didn't have to buy a ticket.

♪ I don't care ♪

♪ I can't ♪

♪ I done fought through it ♪

♪ The funky, funky, funk ♪

[screams]

[band playing]

[White]
And James Brown went on
and did that show.

And it was-- it was fantastic.

It really saved
the city of Boston.

Because that night
was very, very peaceful.

Most everybody was home
watching their TV

and watching James Brown.

James Brown said it all
for me when I was young,

"Say it loud,
I'm black and I'm proud."

He said it all.

♪ Say it loud ♪

♪ I'm black and I'm proud ♪

♪ Say it loud ♪

♪ I'm black and I'm proud ♪

♪ Some people say it's malice ♪

♪ Some say it's
a lot of nerve ♪

♪ Someone can't quit movin' ♪

♪ Till we get what we deserve ♪

♪ I've been 'buked ♪

♪ And I've been scorned ♪

♪ Talkin' about, baby ♪

♪ Sure as you're born ♪

♪ Just as sure as it takes
two eyes to make a pair ♪

♪ We can't give up the ship ♪

♪ Till we get our share ♪

♪ Say it loud ♪

♪ I'm black and I'm proud ♪

Let me hear you.

♪ Say it loud ♪

♪ I'm black and I'm proud ♪

♪ Say it loud ♪

♪ I'm black and I'm proud ♪

♪ Say it loud ♪

♪ I'm black and I'm proud ♪

[screams]

♪ Get down ♪

♪ Get down ♪

♪ Get down ♪

[screams]

♪ Get down ♪

♪ Get down ♪

[Gossett]
Before "Say It Loud,"
"black" was an insult.

After "Say It Loud,"
black was all about pride.

One song made
all the difference.

♪ Get on the train ♪

[screams]

Come on!

Come on! Get it!

Get it! Get it! Get it!

[Gossett]
In Motown's early days,

the company had shied away
from political songs.

But by the early '70s,

it was America's
most successful ever
black-owned record label.

And its artists were
ready to take a stand.

♪ Heaven help the child ♪

♪ Who never had a home ♪

♪ Heaven help the girl ♪

♪ Who walks
the streets alone ♪

♪ Heaven help the roses ♪

♪ If the bombs begin to fall ♪

I think that
we could do better.

I think that races,
blacks, and whites

can start getting
along together.

[crowd cheers]

♪ Heaven help the black man ♪

♪ If he struggles
one more day ♪

♪ Heaven help the white man ♪

♪ If he turns his back away ♪

♪ Heaven help the man
who kicks ♪

♪ The man who must crawl ♪

♪ Heaven help us all ♪

♪ Heaven help us all ♪

♪ Heaven help us all ♪

♪ Heaven help us ♪

♪ Lord, hear our call ♪

♪ When we fall ♪

-♪ Ohh, oh, yeah ♪
-♪ Help us all ♪

♪ Heaven help the boy... ♪

[Robert Kennedy]
What has violence
ever accomplished?

What has it ever created?

[Gossett] In 1968,

the country lost
Robert F. Kennedy
and Martin Luther King.

And outside
the Democratic National
Convention in Chicago,

police brutally attacked
the demonstrators

protesting the Vietnam War.

[crowd yells]

[man] Mr. Chairman,

most delegates of this convention do not know

that thousands of young people

are being beaten
in the streets of Chicago.

[indistinct shouting]

[man] With George McGovern
as President
of the United States,

we wouldn't have to have
Gestapo scare tactics

in the streets of Chicago.

[crowd cheering]

[Gossett] And then, in 1970,

during an anti-war
demonstration

at Kent State University
in Ohio,

National Guard troops
shot and killed
four student protestors.

♪ Keep hatred
from the mighty ♪

♪ And the mighty
from the small, yeah ♪

♪ Heaven help ♪

♪ Us all ♪

[Gossett]
Now it was time for musicians

to try to pull
the country together.

Artists like Stevie Wonder
cried out that
survival in America

didn't have to mean
bleaching your soul

or sacrificing your humanity.

But there was no
getting around the fact

that the country had abandoned

some of the movements
of non-violent ideals.

♪ We need ya, Lord ♪

-♪ And we need ya now ♪
-♪ Heaven help us all ♪

[vocalizing]

♪ Don't ya know,
don't ya know, don't ya know ♪

♪ Don't ya know
Don't ya know
Don't ya know it? ♪

♪ We need ya down here, Lord ♪

♪ To help us ♪

♪ Heaven help ♪

♪ Us all ♪

♪ Oh, yeah, yeah ♪

[Gladys] The times were
reflected in the music.

We sang about some
of our experiences,

and that's what
a lot of the music was about,

some of the times
we had come through,

and what people
needed to be doing.

Curtis Mayfield
and "Keep On Pushing,"

Otis Redding
and "R-E-S-P-E-C-T,

Find out what it means to me."

And then you come down to, uh,

Marvin Gaye, even.

[Butler] And the album was
What's Going On.

It is, to my mind,

one of the most soulful,

poignant messages

about the world
and its situation

that I've heard from any singer

at any time.

♪ Mother, mother ♪

♪ There's too many
of you crying ♪

♪ Brother, brother, brother ♪

♪ There's far too many
of you dying ♪

♪ You know
we've got to find a way ♪

♪ To bring some loving ♪

♪ Here today ♪

♪ Father, father ♪

♪ We don't need to escalate ♪

♪ War is not the answer ♪

♪ For only love
can conquer hate ♪

♪ You, you know
we've got to find a way ♪

♪ To bring some loving ♪

♪ Oh, here today ♪

♪ Picket lines ♪

♪ Picket signs ♪

♪ Don't punish me ♪

♪ With brutality ♪

♪ Talk to me ♪

♪ Honey, so you can see ♪

♪ Oh, what's going on ♪

♪ What's going on ♪

♪ Yeah, what's going on ♪

♪ Tell me what's going on ♪

♪ Woo ♪

♪ Come on, honey ♪

[Gossett] Marvin Gaye's brother had come back from Vietnam a bitter and disillusioned man.

Marvin began looking
outside the cocoon
of his life.

"My blood started to boil,"
he said.

"I had an anger, an energy,
an artistic point of view."

What's Going On
was a suite of songs

that addressed
the world as he saw it.

"Hypocrisy,
callousness, racism,

can we not
do better than this?"

What had happened
to the idealism
of just a few years earlier?

♪ Everybody thinks
we're wrong ♪

♪ Yes, they do ♪

♪ Oh, but who are they
to judge us ♪

♪ Simply 'cause
our hair is long ♪

♪ People, you, you, you know ♪

♪ We've got to find a way ♪

♪ To bring
some understanding ♪

♪ Here today ♪

♪ Picket lines ♪

♪ Picket signs ♪

♪ People, don't punish me ♪

♪ With brutality ♪

♪ Talk to me,
talk to me, talk to me ♪

♪ So you can see ♪

♪ What's going on ♪

♪ What's going on ♪

♪ Hey, what's going on ♪

♪ Wanna know what's going on ♪

♪ All right ♪

♪ I wanna know ♪

♪ Know what's going on ♪

♪ Baby ♪

♪ Yes, I wanna know ♪

♪ Yeah, what's going on
right now, people ♪

[Ruth Brown]
It's music
that has transcended

and gone above everything
that society said
we were not allowed to do.

Black people, white people,
all colors of people

have enjoyed this music.

And no matter
what comes and what goes,

they're not ever gonna
really get rid of it.

It's too basic.

It's too real.

♪ I know a place ♪

♪ Oh, a-- ♪

♪ Ain't nobody crying ♪

[Gossett] The Staples Singers
had been there
from the beginning.

Moving to Stax Records
in Memphis,

they came back
with something new--

a little bit of gospel,
a little bit of soul,

even a little bit of reggae.

But they were still calling
for a re-made America

where "ain't nobody crying."

♪ Jump on, jump on ♪

♪ Somebody help me here ♪

♪ I'll take you there ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah, help me now ♪

♪ I'll take you there ♪

♪ Oh, boy, help me now ♪

♪ I'll take you there ♪

♪ Oh, help me ♪

♪ I'll take you there ♪

♪ Oh, mercy ♪

♪ I'll take you there ♪

♪ Oh, oh, let me
take you there ♪

♪ I'll take you there ♪

♪ Oh, oh, let me
take you there ♪

♪ I'll take you there ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ There it goes ♪

♪ Oh, play your-- ♪

♪ Play your piano now ♪

♪ All right ♪

♪ Do it now, do it now ♪

♪ Jump on now ♪

♪ Play on it, play on it ♪

♪ Help me, Daddy, now ♪

♪ Daddy, Daddy, Daddy ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

[Gossett] It was 1972,
and "I'll Take You There"

became one of the records
of the year.

♪ Whoa, oh ♪

♪ Somebody do it now ♪

The music has, uh,

been the lifeblood
of the movement.

It runs throughout
the veins of the movement.

So you don't just hear
the songs with your ears.

But-- But music is...

one of the forces for the soul.

And it empowers people.

♪ You gets up, you stand up ♪

♪ Uh-huh ♪

♪ Stand up for your rights ♪

♪ You get up, you stand up ♪

♪ Don't give up the fight ♪

[Gossett] In Jamaica, Bob Marley grew up

listening to Curtis Mayfield
and the Impressions,

Sam Cooke, and Otis Redding.

In 1966, he worked
at a Chrysler plant
in Delaware.

And when he went home,
he brought the music

and the message
of Civil Rights
to his own music.

♪ Stand up for your rights ♪

♪ So get up, stand up ♪

♪ Don't give up the fight ♪

♪ Don't give up the fight ♪

♪ Don't give up the fight ♪

♪ Don't give up the fight ♪

♪ Don't give up the fight ♪

♪ Don't give up the fight ♪

♪ Don't give up the fight
No ♪

♪ Don't give up the fight ♪

♪ Don't give up the fight ♪

♪ We're sick and tired
of your ism-schism ♪

♪ Dyin' and go to heaven
in a ism-schism ♪

♪ We know and we understand ♪

♪ Almighty God
is a living man ♪

♪ You can fool
some people sometimes ♪

♪ But you can't
fool all the people ♪

♪ All the time ♪

♪ Now you see the light ♪

♪ Stand up for your rights ♪

♪ Woo, oh ♪

♪ Woo, oh, yo, yo, yo ♪

[audience] ♪ Woo, oh,
yo, yo, yo ♪

♪ Whoa yo ♪

[audience] ♪ Whoa yo ♪

♪ Whoa yo, yo, yo, yo ♪

[audience]
♪ Woo, oh, yo, yo, yo ♪

♪ Whoa, yo ♪

[audience] ♪ Whoa yo ♪

♪ Whoa, yo, yo, yo, yo ♪

[audience]
♪ Woo, oh, yo, yo, yo ♪

♪ Whoa yo ♪

[audience] ♪ Whoa yo ♪

♪ Whoa, yo, yo, yo, yo ♪

[audience]
♪ Woo, oh, yo, yo, yo ♪

♪ You can stand up
for your rights ♪

♪ Stand up for your rights ♪

♪ Stand up for your rights ♪

♪ Stand up for your rights ♪

Artists have to be encouraged
to really feel it out.

Have to also be aware
of history and geography,

which most Americans
have been kept away from.

You know, they wait for history

to be packaged and sold
to them.

You'll end up waiting forever.

[Gossett] Half a world away,

a revolution
in four-part harmony
had been underway for years.

This one to liberate millions
of black South Africans

from the yolk of Apartheid.

♪ Bring back Nelson Mandela ♪

♪ Bring him back home
to Soweto ♪

♪ We want to see him
walking down the streets ♪

♪ Of South Africa ♪

♪ Tomorrow ♪

♪ Bring back Nelson Mandela ♪

♪ Bring him back home
to Soweto ♪

♪ I want to see him
walking hand in hand ♪

♪ With Winnie Mandela ♪

♪ No more borstal ♪

[Gossett] In 1948, the British
colony of South Africa
institutionalized racism

under a system
called apartheid.

In many ways,

it was more discriminatory
than segregation
in the American south.

Decades of harsh
oppression followed.

Musicians who had
left South Africa,

like Hugh Masekela
and Miriam Makeba,

helped tell the world
what was happening there

and helped to make
South Africa a pariah state.

[band playing]

[singing in native language]

[Gossett] It would take
a violent struggle
and many deaths

before apartheid could finally be brought to its knees,

and it could
never have been done
without music.

Nelson Mandela,
who'd come to symbolize
resistance to apartheid,

was finally freed
from jail in 1990.

He'd been in prison
since 1964.

Apartheid crumbled soon after.

♪ Home to Soweto ♪

♪ I want to see him
walking down the streets ♪

♪ Of South Africa ♪

♪ Tomorrow ♪

♪ Bring back Nelson Mandela ♪

♪ Bring him back home
to Soweto ♪

♪ I want to see him
walking hand-in-hand ♪

♪ With Winnie Mandela ♪

♪ No more borstal ♪

[trumpet solo]

[Gossett]
Back in the United States,

the gains of
the Civil Rights Movement

hadn't made much difference
to the lives of many
African-Americans.

The mean streets
of America's ghettos

would soon echo
to a new sound.

I didn't start getting involved
in creating music

and being involved
in the playing of music

until I was about 19 and 20.

I saw a lot of people
around me

being kind of swept in

from another musical
point of view

that just didn't let them
get the goods.

So I saw that change come on

of music kinda like
saying nothin' to people.

Anything can be soulful...

if it's done with the spirit
from here.

What kind of spirit...

can...

be a question here

because it doesn't all the time
have to be a positive spirit

that we're dealing with.

You can do so many things
with lyrics,

you know, within a song.

And I think if they are there,

we can take those lyrics
over into our daily life,

our daily activity,
even at work, at play.

["The Message"]

In the beginning,
rap music is protest music,

born in the streets and
ghettos of urban America.

Many early rap performers
took their cue

from James Brown
and classic funk.

[man rapping]
♪ Broken glass everywhere ♪

♪ People pissin' on the stairs ♪

♪ You know
they just don't care ♪

♪ I can't take the smell ♪

♪ Can't take the noise ♪

♪ Got no money to move out ♪

♪ I guess I got no choice ♪

♪ Rats in the front room ♪

♪ Roaches in the back ♪

♪ Junkies in the alley ♪

♪ With a baseball bat ♪

♪ I tried to get away ♪

♪ But I couldn't get far ♪

♪ 'Cuz a man
with a tow truck ♪

♪ Repossessed my car ♪

♪ Don't push me ♪

♪ 'Cuz I'm close ♪

♪ To the edge ♪

♪ I'm tryin' not ♪

♪ To lose my head ♪

♪ Uh huh ha ha ha ♪

♪ It's like
a jungle sometimes ♪

♪ It makes me wonder how
I keep from goin' under ♪

♪ Standin'
on the front stoop ♪

♪ Hangin' out the window ♪

♪ Watchin' all the cars
go by ♪

♪ Roarin'
as the breezes blow ♪

♪ Crazy lady
Livin' in a bag ♪

♪ Eatin' outta garbage pails ♪

♪ Used to be a hag ♪

♪ Said she'll dance
the tango ♪

♪ Skip the light fandango ♪

♪ A zircon princess ♪

♪ Seemed to lost her senses ♪

♪ Down at the peep show ♪

♪ Watchin' all the creeps ♪

♪ So she can
tell her stories ♪

♪ To the girls back home ♪

♪ She went to the city ♪

♪ And got Social Security ♪

♪ She had to get a pimp ♪

♪ She couldn't make it
on her own ♪

♪ Don't push me ♪

♪ 'Cuz I'm close ♪

♪ To the edge ♪

♪ I'm tryin' ♪

♪ Not to lose my head ♪

♪ Uh huh ha ha ha ♪

♪ It's like
a jungle sometimes ♪

♪ It makes me wonder how
I keep from goin' under ♪

♪ It's like a jungle
sometimes ♪

♪ It makes me wonder how
I keep from goin' under ♪

♪ My brother's doin' bad ♪

♪ Stole my mother's TV ♪

♪ Says she watches too much ♪

So when I'm first hearing
"Fight The Power"

in the '70s
as a young teenager,

I'm struck by the fact

this is the first record
I heard a curse word in,

but the curse just isn't
just said for no reason.

The curse is applied
to a condition

that was happening
at that particular time

that people were tired of.

♪ I try to play my music ♪

♪ They say
my music's too loud ♪

[Gossett]
It was The Isley Brothers
lead singer, Ronald Isley,

who told the world that was goin' down.

♪ I got knocked
on the ground ♪

♪ All this goin' down ♪

He said, "That's what
everyone needed to hear."

♪ Got no guarantee ♪

♪ Smile in a makin' ♪

♪ What we gotta do ♪

♪ Fight the powers that be ♪

[music fading]

I made "Fight the Power"

with my team in 1988

for the Spike Lee Do the Right Thingsoundtrack.

Uh, we wanted to be
just as jarring.

♪ 1, 2 ♪

♪ 'Cause it's 7, a number ♪

-♪ Another summer ♪ -♪ Get down ♪

♪ Sound of the drummer ♪

♪ Music hittin' your heart ♪

♪ 'Cause I know you got soul ♪

-♪ Brothers and sisters ♪
-♪ Hey ♪

♪ Listen
if you're missin', y'all ♪

-♪ Swingin'
while I'm singing ♪
-♪ Hey ♪

♪ Givin' what you can ♪

♪ Know, I know it ♪

♪ While the black band's
sweatin' ♪

♪ And the rhythm rhymes
rollin' ♪

♪ Got to give us
what we want ♪

-♪ Unh ♪
-♪ Gotta give us
what we need ♪

-♪ Hey ♪
-♪ Our freedom of speech ♪

[Gossett] From the beginning,
Public Enemy was known

for politically-charged
lyrics,

criticism of the media,
and a fierce allegiance

to the African-American
community and its history.

Myself and Hank Shocklee
were hanging a flier...

of a-- of a-- of a gig
that we were promoting.

And we put the picture
of Malcolm X

on the-- on the front
of the flier

with him
looking out the window
with the carbine.

This guy came up to us
as we were stapling
this flier on the pole,

and he says, "Yo,
I'm down to check y'all out.

Who's this Malcolm the Tenth?"

And we looked
at each other like,

"This dude don't even know
who Malcolm X is?"

So we have to kinda, like,
reconnect the dots here.

♪ People, people ♪

♪ Say no, we're not the same ♪

♪ 'Cause we don't know
the game ♪

♪ What we need is awareness ♪

♪ We can't get careless,
South By Southwest ♪

-♪ You say, what is this? ♪
-♪ My beloved ♪

♪ Let's get down to business ♪

♪ Mental self-defensive
fitness ♪

-♪ Bum rush the show ♪
-♪ Hey ♪

♪ You gotta go
for what you know ♪

♪ I'll make everybody see
in order to ♪

-♪ Fight the powers that be ♪
-♪ Let me hear you say ♪

-♪ Fight the power ♪
-♪ Y'all got to fight ♪

-♪ Say what, y'all ♪
-♪ Fight the power ♪

-♪ Let me hear you say ♪
-♪ Fight the power ♪

-♪ Y'all got to fight,
say what, y'all ♪
-♪ Fight the power ♪

-♪ Let me hear you say ♪
-♪ Fight the power ♪

♪ You go to fight,
say what, y'all ♪

-♪ Fight the power ♪
-♪ Let me hear you say ♪

-♪ Fight the power ♪
-♪ Hey ♪

[Chuck]
The language is in context

of pointing to a situation

that we thought that
needed to be dealt with.

You know, you know,
oh, wow, you know,

uh, rock 'n' roll king
is Elvis,

so black people don't count.

And then-- then, you know,
there's this thing

as American heroes
will always have to be white.

Yeah, you can be a hero,
but you gotta come
through this doorway

to be a hero.

♪ Fight the power ♪

♪ You got to fight,
say what, y'all ♪

-♪ Fight the power ♪
-♪ Let me hear you say ♪

♪ Fight the power ♪

♪ Y'all got to fight
Say what ♪

♪ Fight the power ♪

♪ Fight the power ♪

♪ You got to fight ♪

♪ Fight the power ♪

[Chuck] The most beautiful
thing about hip-hop

is the fact that hip-hop's use

of the combinations
of sights and sounds

and reminders from the past,

with its vocal approach,

give it the possibility
to go and do things

that other musics might not
be able to reach.

We have that to replace

what the radio stations and
the radio deejays used to do

and, uh, what
they should be doing.

We created a darkness

around this generation of young people in big cities.

Bob Marley, for instance,
in the islands,

writes another genre
of freedom songs.

And he can write
"One Heart, One Love,

let's get together
and feel all right."

Our kids have not
gotten there yet,

but I see them growing up, see,

and they started out mean,

and they started out mad,

and they started out
going for bad, see?

Now they're mellowing
a little bit.

♪ I used to flow ♪

♪ They used to call me
a rhyme animal ♪

♪ Some of them don't
call me no more ♪

♪ So I try a new style ♪

♪ Refuse to get wild
on the B-side

♪ Because I still
got my pride ♪

♪ The pride comes from another time ♪

♪ My father and mother ♪

♪ Plus God bless the rhyme ♪

♪ Born in 1967 ♪

♪ Suckas quizzin' me
what was it like ♪

♪ Before everybody tried
to be like Mike? ♪

♪ Back in the day
when our peeps had
to fight for our rights ♪

♪ To make the day
feel all right ♪

♪ But there is no is
without a was ♪

♪ No about to be, buts
or because ♪

-♪ It's my pride ♪
-♪ Oh ♪

-♪ If you need ♪
-♪ Ah ♪

-♪ It's my pride ♪
-♪ Keep the pride
to keep you sly ♪

♪ Keep the pride
to keep you sly ♪

-♪ It's my pride ♪
-♪ Oh ♪

-♪ If you need ♪
-♪ Ah ♪

-♪ Got to have my pride ♪
-♪ Keep the pride
to keep you sly ♪

-♪ Yeah ♪
-♪ Keep the pride
to keep you sly ♪

♪ Reminiscent
of another time ♪

♪ Dashikis, bells
To straight legs ♪

♪ Platforms and picks ♪

♪ See, it wasn't just
about the 'fro ♪

♪ It was what was
underneath that 'fro ♪

♪ Black power for the powerless ♪

♪ Deuce and quarters
Caddies 442's ♪

♪ It's the pride
ain't you wanna ride? ♪

♪ Pride ♪

The music was going
in a direction

where the content of the music

had so dramatically changed

that there was
a lessened appreciation

for the sound of my generation.

But in the last decade,
that seems to come around

because now what we're finding

that in hip-hop and pop music,

uh, producers, artists,

they're finding
that there's a void

in that evolution

where the music lost

not only its substance
but its content.

♪ Keep the pride
to keep you sly ♪

-♪ It's my pride ♪
-♪ Oh ♪

-♪ If you need ♪
-♪ Ah ♪

♪ Gotta give 'em pride ♪

♪ Keep the pride
to keep you sly ♪

♪ Keep the pride
to keep you sly ♪

♪ Flamboyant man ♪

♪ Free Eldridge,
Bobby, Angela ♪

♪ Woodstock to Kent State ♪

♪ Music of the time
before the minds ♪

♪ Before the vibes ♪

♪ Aretha, Four Tops ♪

♪ Curtis Mayfield,
Isaac Hayes ♪

♪ Assassinations, presidents ♪

♪ Yes ♪

♪ '60s soul ♪

♪ Now in order for us
to know who we are ♪

♪ We got to know who we was ♪

♪ Then once we know
who we was ♪

♪ Then we'll know
who we're gonna be ♪

♪ You dig? ♪

♪ Pride ♪

♪ Bring 'em up
with some pride ♪

All artists are not the same.

There are some who's--
out there--

who, uh, trying to, uh, recap

what we had in the '60s
or in the movement.

I think they're
beginning to realize

what has-- has gone wrong

for the last 15 or 20 years,

and they're trying
to make amends to this.

And I think
music will be the key

because we all love music.

People told our story
with music,

and so we will find
some way of using music.

That's why blues is like--

it carries a heavy load.

Spirituals
carries a heavy load.

Soul carries a heavy load.

See, the one thing
about great songs

is that they have
great messages--

messages that transcend time

and race and ethnicity.

Rather than try to write
a country's laws,

I'd like to write
a country's songs.

You may snap your fingers
to one beat.

I may snap my fingers
to another one.

But in essence, you know,

the music touches everybody.

They're looking for music
to be deeper in content,

deeper in meaning and purpose.

It's everywhere.

More than ever before,

music is the soundtrack
of our lives.

[Aaron Neville]
♪ I was born by the river ♪

♪ In a little tent ♪

♪ Oh, and just like the river ♪

♪ I've been runnin' ♪

♪ Ever since ♪

♪ Oh, it's been a long ♪

♪ A long time comin' ♪

♪ But I know ♪

♪ A change is gonna come ♪

♪ Oh, yes, it will ♪

♪ It's been too hard livin' ♪

♪ But I'm afraid to die ♪

♪ 'Cause I don't know
what's up there ♪

♪ Beyond the sky ♪

♪ Oh, it's been a long ♪

♪ A long time comin' ♪

♪ But I know ♪

♪ A change is gonna come ♪

♪ Whoa, yes, it will ♪

♪ Oh, when I go ♪

♪ To my brother ♪

♪ And I say "Brother" ♪

♪ "Help me, please" ♪

♪ But he winds up ♪

♪ Knocking me ♪

♪ Right down
on my-- my knees ♪

♪ Oh, oh ♪

♪ There's been times
that I thought ♪

♪ I couldn't last for long ♪

♪ But now I think I'm able ♪

♪ To carry on ♪

♪ Oh, it's been a long ♪

♪ Long time comin' ♪

♪ But I know ♪

♪ A change is gonna come ♪

♪ Oh, yes, it will ♪

[saxophone playing]

♪ Oh, it's been a long ♪

♪ It's been a long ♪

♪ Long time comin' ♪

♪ But I know ♪

♪ A change will come ♪

♪ Oh, yes, it will ♪

♪ Oh, it's been a long ♪

♪ A long ♪

♪ A long time comin' ♪

♪ But I know ♪

♪ A change is gonna come ♪

♪ Oh, yes, it will ♪

No movement before or after

ever had songs like
"People Get Ready,"

"We Shall Overcome,"

"Respect,"
"Blowin' in the Wind,"

"A Change is Gonna Come."

They were such powerfully
emotional songs

that came at one
of those rare moments

when the passion
of the movement

connected with the music
of the times,

and they gave birth
to a brand-new generation--

my generation.

Sometimes it seems like
the pace of change is slow,

but then there'll be an event

like the election
of Barack Obama in 2008.

Thirty, 40 years ago,
and never mind 70 years ago,

when "The Strange Fruit"
was recorded,

it was inconceivable.

Change has come,

much slower than we'd like.

The Civil Rights battle
is not over.

It isn't over here.

It isn't over
elsewhere in the world.

But in some ways,
in many, many ways,

we live in a more
equitable society.

But we can always
make it better.

♪ You've been away ♪

♪ I don't know where ♪

♪ Lord, you sure been good to me ♪

♪ Lord, you been away ♪

♪ I don't know where ♪

♪ Lord, you sure
been good to me ♪

♪ Lord, you been away ♪

♪ I don't know where ♪

♪ Lord, you sure
been good to me ♪

♪ Lord, you've been
better to me ♪

♪ Than I've been to myself ♪

♪ Been to myself ♪