Wow, first of all, I didn’t expect this documentary to be as powerful as it was. I’ve learned about the Civil Rights Movement my entire life but I’ve never felt such powerful emotions and expression as I felt from watching the film. Perhaps it’s due to the age and experience I’ve gathered through my life that allows me to better sympathize with the stories of the past…

The documentary immediately starts with a montage of various video recordings of beatings, protesting, etc. from the Civil Rights Movement. Immediately, you can tell that the primary depictions of the people are those involved in the Civil Rights Movement. A lot of the documentary is done in a reflective interview style, with people who experienced the horrors of the Civil Rights movement reminisce the struggles and protests that occurred throughout. Very early on in the documentary, a message is made across about the peaceful protest being a very strong factor in what the pro-Civil rights activists strived for, with examples including Ghandi. It’s clear with that, music was a direct medium that they used to express their philosophy and message across the nation – to fight for equality and unity though non-violent measures.

Gospel and hymn type songs were being sung in various settings – singing together to fight for their rights. The music was focused on peace and unity in this regard. However, it also showed how music was used to express the struggles, the pain, the sorrow, the gloom. Whether they were sung in protests – in forms of peaceful protesting, to church to raise moral, music was a heavy form of arsenal that these activists used.

The Civil Rights movement took place primarily in the southern areas of the United States, primarily Alabama and Mississippi.

Once again, the documentary really showed the use of music as a primary arsenal in their non-violent protesting. Of course, this was one of Martin Luther King Jr’s main focuses throughout his activist career, to ensure that they are not treated lower than anyone else. These songs that were sung during the Civil Rights Movement were an outcry and plea for others to listen – to protest the unfair treatment of ethnicities and to question the ethicality of the US Government. Music helped bring people together in this times of struggle. Music helped them create a unified voice to stand strong against the unethical treatments. Music helped them push forward and spread the message across the world.

I want to reiterate the study of the Civil Rights Movement growing up. The amount of struggle and unfair treatment is unacceptable, especially in modern standards – it’s terrible to know that this was something that happened within a generation. I really appreciate that this class and the documentary itself was able to enlighten me about the musical aspect – how it wasn’t just standing in the streets and protesting – that there were various mediums of expression that were used. It really does solidify my opinion and support my thoughts about music and how it affects us in life. This documentary is a great example of how music can bring people together – I really thoroughly enjoyed it.

Music – such an interesting development of human creativity. Throughout this course, we’ve discovered and discussed various topics on music – from the evolution, the technicality, the history.

Music as an expression for philanthropy and advocacy is widely apparent and we’ve had numerous run-ins with songs created to spread messages across the globe – with many impacting the lives of people. One of our film reviews, Amazing Grace, has such a deep historical yet modern place in our lives. I talked about it in my previous discussion post, but I’d like to talk about it further – about how the main melody can be played with the 5 black notes of the keyboard. Allegedly, during the times of slavery, African-American slaves were given only these 5 notes to sing and make music out of – because the keys were black, just like them. This story represents the repression and suffering that they went through. In modern times, “Amazing Grace”, albeit the alleged story behind it, represents a song of hope and unity. Sung in many instances of sadness to bring hope, to moments of communion and celebration, it’s a very powerful song. It’s very inspiring how music can impact so many peoples lives like this.

For me personally, “We are the World” has a more impact to me emotionally than “Amazing Grace”, because I was given an opportunity to first hand experience the struggles in Haiti after the earthquake.

Originally written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, it was made as a charity single to support African famine. It brought along a variety of musicians to come together, representing unity and philanthropy.

25 years later, Jamie Foxx came together and did a reiteration of “We are the World” for the cause for Haiti. Even more musicians and artists came together in this rendition. The fact that many of the artists come from different genres and styles, and to clearly see that in the music video, to me makes me feel emotions of awe and hopefulness.

Music has such an impact on all of us – it’s amazing to see the clear influence it has to push us to make a change. This class has introduced us to analyze the music in a very technical way, but it also opened up a better appreciation for what music stands for in our lives.