Everybody Says Freedom: A History of the Civil Rights Movement in Songs and Pictures

by Pete Seeger, Pete Seeger, Bob Reiser

“Filled with beautiful music, glorious lyrics, and the soul of one of the most important historical and social revolutions of our history.” —Judy Collins

In words, photographs, and music, Pete Seeger and Bob Reiser tell the story of the civil rights movement, building their narrative around the accounts of people involved and the songs that inspired their struggle. It documents the sit-ins, freedom rides, and marches that occurred along the long path to triumph in an uncertain age.

This narrative scrapbook collects forty songs and includes profiles of activists and a chronological outline of the extraordinary events from 1955 to 1968. It is a story of courage and resilience on the part of ordinary people. From "This Little Light of Mine" to "We Shall Overcome," the music of the time was both encouragement and catharsis for those who struggled against adversity in an effort to change the world.

Genres: History, Music, Nonfiction, Race, American History, Politics

Paperback

First published February 1, 1990

About the author

Peter Seeger, better known as Pete Seeger, was a folk singer, political activist, and a key figure in the mid-20th century American folk music revival. As a member of the Weavers, he had a string of hits, including a 1949 recording of Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene" that topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. However, his career as a mainstream performer was seriously curtailed by the Second Red Scare: he came under severe attack as a former member of the Communist Party of the United States of America. Later, he re-emerged on the public scene as a pioneer of protest music in the late 1950s and the 1960s.

He was perhaps best known as the author or co-author of the songs "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?", "If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)", and "Turn, Turn, Turn!", which have been recorded by many artists both in and outside the folk revival movement and are still sung throughout the world. "Flowers" was a hit recording for The Kingston Trio (1962), Marlene Dietrich, who recorded it in English, German and French (1962), and Johnny Rivers (1965). "If I Had a Hammer" was a hit for Peter, Paul & Mary (1962) and Trini Lopez (1963), while The Byrds popularized "Turn, Turn, Turn!" in the mid-1960s. Seeger was also widely credited with popularizing the traditional song "We Shall Overcome", which was recorded by Joan Baez and many other singer-activists, and became the publicly perceived anthem of the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement soon after musicologist Guy Carawan introduced it at the founding meeting of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shows its age in some ways, and perhaps of slightly more interest to those who are musical, but on the whole a pretty interesting resource on the Civil Rights Movement. Three and a half stars.