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Freedom Songs: The Music of the Civil Rights Movement” Airs on ETV

For Immediate Release
May 4, 2009

Columbia, SC…It is well known that South Carolina played a large role in the Civil Rights Movement. But, did you know that it was also where “We Shall Overcome” became the anthem for that movement?

It happened in 1946, as 300 women, mostly black, sung this traditional gospel hymn while on strike at the American Tobacco Company in Charleston. This story is just one of many that is told in the upcoming documentary Freedom Songs: The Music of the Civil Rights Movement airing on ETV on Thursday, June 18 at 7:30 p.m.

This 90-minute program which features interviews with actor Louis Gossett Jr. and rap icon Chuck D, explores the music that characterized defining moments in American history. The program also examines how music was inspired by, and helped sustain, the struggle for equality and human rights.

Influenced by a broad range of styles — from gospel standards and spirituals to blues, jazz, folk and pop —the music has fascinating stories behind it: Curtis Mayfield changed a few words in a gospel standard to make “People Get Ready,” a conscious effort to close the gap between gospel and R&B; and Sam Cooke — inspired by Bob Dylan’s release of “Blowin’ in the Wind” — recorded “A Change Is Gonna Come” to make his own movement statement.

From Billie Holiday to Mahalia Jackson and Aretha Franklin, from Curtis Mayfield and Sly Stone to Gil Scott-Heron, Freedom Songs documents how a few daring musical innovators stood at the vortex of two revolutions — one cultural, the other musical — and forever changed America and the world. From the early Civil Rights era to Watergate, they brought music, medium and message together as never before, composing a soundtrack perfectly tuned to the tempo and pulse of those turbulent times. They were America’s rhythm rebels; the spirit of what they created lives on today.

Throughout this soul-stirring broadcast, musicians, civil rights activists, music industry executives, historians and others involved in the movement, including former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young; actress Ruby Dee; influential musicians Pete Seeger, Gladys Knight, Jimmy Carter and the Blind Boys of Alabama, Ruth Brown, Jerry Butler and Isaac Hayes; and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) co-founder Dr. Bernard Lafayette share candid insights about this profoundly significant era.

From American music’s crossroad cities — places like Memphis, Atlanta, Chicago, and Detroit — to today’s high-end recording studios, Freedom Songs follows the irresistible musical forces of the Civil Rights Movement, forces that altered the cultural compass of the world.

South Carolina ETV is the state's public educational broadcasting network with 11 television and eight radio transmitters, and a multi-media educational system in more than 2,500 schools, colleges, businesses and government agencies. Using television, radio and the web, SCETV's mission is to enrich lives by educating children, informing and connecting citizens, celebrating our culture and environment and instilling the joy of learning.

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For more information, contact Rob Schaller at (803) 737-6556 or rschaller@scetv.org.

Rap music veteran Chuck D is featured in "Freedom Songs: The Music of the Civil Rights Movement." Photo Credit: Sarah Edwards

Iconic civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from "Freedom Songs: The Music of the Civil Rights Movement." Photo Credit: Bettman/CORBIS