Sing for Freedom: The African American Song as a Weapon in Emancipating Cultural Identity in the American Civil Rights Movement

Abstract

ABSTRACT This dissertation sheds light upon two of the most influential aspect of the Civil Rights Movement which are music and cultural identity. By analyzing some of the most famous songs of the time period, the purpose behind the present study is to investigate the role of the African American song in not only achieving equality but also emancipating their cultural identity. Music is an artistic form of expression of people’s suffering that always seeks to communicate their issues through encrypted messages. From coded work songs during slavery time to the adamant freedom songs in the sixties, black music was able to flourish and evolve into this form of art during the events of the Civil Rights Movement. Freedom Songs had an effecting power over African Americans who suffered for years from suppressing their blackness, singing became an existential experience through which African Americans decolonized their minds and constructed a new identity. By using W.E.B. Du Bois ‘ double consciousness theory and Critical discourse Theory, this study reveals the importance of the African American song during that era.