Known as the unofficial anthem of the civil rights movement, “We Shall Overcome” began as a folk song with a background in African American hymns and slowly emerged in 1945 in a strike against the American Tobacco Company. The song found its way to the 1960’s at the founding convention of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, who played a significant role in the fight for civil rights, using “We Shall Overcome” during protest marches and in sit-ins, making the song more comprehensive to the movement. Since the Civil Rights Movement, the song has been utilized across the world and by various civil rights and pro-democracy movements many nations worldwide.
Many of those who fought for civil rights during the 1960’s were affected by the
Many of those who fought for civil rights during the 1960’s were affected by the