The Beginnings of a Movement
The modern era of civil rights reform can be broken down into a few stages, each start with separated, little scale movements and eventually bringing about the rise of new, more militant ones, pioneers, and organizations. The beginning phase of protest activity, after the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, was with the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which began on December 1, 1955. This boycott spurred many more of its kind and demonstrated the unity and determination of black people and provided inspiration for other black Americans to join the movement. During the increasing amount of protest spreading thoroughout the country, the music of Black artists was always visible. From the “People Get Ready” by The Impressions …show more content…
Theologian Joseph R. Washington6 called gospel “ the most degenerate form of Negro religion.” During the height of the movement he delivered harsh criticism of the music form because he felt as though the music was politically irrelevant and a theological weakening of the spirituals.7 Gospel music would also receive unflattering analyses from other scholars who did not understand how impactful the music was to the movement. Despite the dismissal of gospel on a socio-political level, some scholars are able to identify the instrumental function it serves in the lives of Black Americans. The songs that started in the Black church would serve as one of many different types of songs that expressed the feelings of a group of people and inspired people to join for the betterment of the …show more content…
The theoretical framework used in this research was the classical model of social movements. Several key finding emerged from this research. Application of the model indicates that music was at the forefront of expressing the psychological stress endured by a portion of the population and also how music help drive people with the same emotions together to make social change. More people learned about the movement and its missions through freedom songs sang by protestors.
This research supports the thesis that the music (gospel, blues, jazz, and soul) was a significant agent of mass mobilization of people. Thomas Reed summarized it best by saying, “Songs were everywhere in the movement-in meetings, on the picket line, on marches, at sit-ins, in jail,
The modern era of civil rights reform can be broken down into a few stages, each start with separated, little scale movements and eventually bringing about the rise of new, more militant ones, pioneers, and organizations. The beginning phase of protest activity, after the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, was with the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which began on December 1, 1955. This boycott spurred many more of its kind and demonstrated the unity and determination of black people and provided inspiration for other black Americans to join the movement. During the increasing amount of protest spreading thoroughout the country, the music of Black artists was always visible. From the “People Get Ready” by The Impressions …show more content…
Theologian Joseph R. Washington6 called gospel “ the most degenerate form of Negro religion.” During the height of the movement he delivered harsh criticism of the music form because he felt as though the music was politically irrelevant and a theological weakening of the spirituals.7 Gospel music would also receive unflattering analyses from other scholars who did not understand how impactful the music was to the movement. Despite the dismissal of gospel on a socio-political level, some scholars are able to identify the instrumental function it serves in the lives of Black Americans. The songs that started in the Black church would serve as one of many different types of songs that expressed the feelings of a group of people and inspired people to join for the betterment of the …show more content…
The theoretical framework used in this research was the classical model of social movements. Several key finding emerged from this research. Application of the model indicates that music was at the forefront of expressing the psychological stress endured by a portion of the population and also how music help drive people with the same emotions together to make social change. More people learned about the movement and its missions through freedom songs sang by protestors.
This research supports the thesis that the music (gospel, blues, jazz, and soul) was a significant agent of mass mobilization of people. Thomas Reed summarized it best by saying, “Songs were everywhere in the movement-in meetings, on the picket line, on marches, at sit-ins, in jail,