Music and the Civil Rights Movement PS413 Professor Gregory Freeland TTh 10:00-11:50, Spring 2010 freeland@clunet.edu Syllabus The purpose of this course is to examine the southern Civil Rights Movement (CRM) from 1954 to 1968. This course will integrate discussion and analysis of the CRM with music. Music was very important to the Movement because it inspired both participants and supporters to continue the struggle until several victories were won. The inspiration and frustration of African Americans and their supporters were expressed through various forms of music ranging from folk to rhythm and blues to jazz. Music helped to politicize individuals and motivate them into political action. Emphasis in this course will be on matching the music with a political event, ideology, and/or individual. There will be discussion on the personal involvement in political and social activities by the singers and performers themselves. Tactics and strategies of the CRM will be examined and their relationships to music will be explored by relying on music with explicitly political lyrics and messages, as well as, those with lyrics and composition that convey spiritual and festive elements. In the daily struggle of grassroots organizing, civil rights activists often used songs, freedom and religious, as a tool to motivate people and sustain the movement. Songs were a way of empowering those working in the movement, as well as, strengthening identity and community with specific goals. The music, lyrics and melodies, allowed communication within the movement, as participants forged a community and diffused the message of the movement beyond the South. This course teaches students about using music as an organizing strategy, mobilizing force, and emotional foundation. Course Goals and Objectives: Based on CLU and Department of Political Science educational objectives. 1 Students will be able to integrate other disciplines (History and Music) into the overall definitional, conceptual, and practical frameworks of political science. 2 - To broaden the understanding of musical expression through different cultural identities 3 Students will be able to write essays and papers that demonstrate an ability to think critically, argue logically, use examples, and apply research skills. 4 - To listen to music attentively and examine the poetic and lyrical meaning of the texts. 5 - Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the history of socio-political structures and cultural/ethnic relations in the United States. 6 Students will become sensitive to the different customs and principles of persons of different cultural backgrounds. 7 Students will be able to find, analyze, and evaluate sources. 8 Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of an historical era. 9 Students will be able to identify ethical issues and dilemmas. 10 Students will be able to evaluate the impact of leadership actions. 11- To understand Popular Music, Political Action and Power 12 - To understand how music defines identity and opens public spaces for communication. 13 - Be able to relate music of dissent to political and social movements. 14 - Students will know the goals of freedom songs and will be able to analyze movement songs for how they communicated messages, unified local people, and encouraged perseverance in the face of fear. 15 - Students will think about artists today and principles they use to convey messages to the public. California Lutheran University is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to students with various documented disabilities including, but not limited to, physical, learning, visual, hearing, or psychological. If you are a student requesting accommodations for this course, please contact your professor at the beginning of the semester and register with the Coordinator for Students with Disabilities (Pearson Library, Center for Academic and Accessibility Resources, Ext. 3260) for the facilitation and verification of need. Faculty will work closely together with you and your coordinator to provide necessary accommodations
Required Texts and Readings: Carson, Clayborne, et. al, editors. Eyes on the Prize: Civil Rights Reader. New York. Penguin Books. 1991. Moody, Ann. Coming of Age in Mississippi. New York. Dell Publishers. 1968. Saul, Scott. Freedom Is, Freedom Ain t: Jazz and the Making of the Sixties. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 2003. Articles: Balter, Michael. Seeking the Key to Music. Science, v. 306, November 12, 2004. pp. 1120-1122. Freeland, Gregory. We re a Winner: Popular Music and the Black Power Movement. Social Movement Studies. v. 8, #3. 2009. Pp. 261-288. Jones, Leroi. Afro-Christian Music and Religion. Blues People. Pp. 32-49. Maultsby, Portia. "Soul Music: Its' Sociological and Political Significance in American Popular Culture." Journal of Popular Culture. v. 17, issue 2, Fall 1983. pp. 51-60. Reagon, Bernice Johnson "Let the Church Sing Freedom." Black Music Research Journal. v. 7. 1987. pp. 105-118. Tyson, Timothy. Original Sin, in Blood Done Sign My Name. pp. 11-60. Supplemental Material: Music will be provided during class time. Articles will be handed out in class put on reserve at the library. Videos will also be shown in class. Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks Eyes on the Prize Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story Recommended Texts: Jones, LeRoi (Imaru Baraka). Blues People. New York. William Morrow. 1963. Kofsky, Frank. Black Nationalism and the Revolution in Music. New York. Pathfinder Press. 1970. Course Requirements: Three medium size term papers of 5 to 6 pages each on some aspect of the civil rights struggle and music (25% each). Papers will be due on March 2, March 25, and May 6 (see * at end of syllabus). Quizzes, two to three given randomly, (15%) and Class participation, which includes class attendance, field trips, and discussion/participation (10%), complete the requirements.
Course Outline: January 21 - Introductions. January 26 - Overview and history of the civil rights struggle from Reconstruction. Read: Civil Rights Reader, pp. 1-34. January 28 Read Tyson Original Sins and Awakenings (1954-1956) in Civil Rights Reader, pp. 35-60. View segment of Eyes on the Prize. February 2 Viewing of Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks Video Discussion questions: Are people ever justified in breaking the law? Explain. How was music used in this video? February 4 Read: Seeking the Key to Music Michael Balter (handout). Music samples include Mahalia Jackson, Joe Turner, Little Willie John, and the Montgomery Improvement Association trio of high school students in 1955 singing We Are Soldiers in the Army and Keep Your Hands on the Plow. Class discussion: The power of music and song. February 9 Rhythm and blues as crossover music and political/cultural threat. Read: Soul Music. Music samples include Sam Cooke, Clyde McPhatter, Nat King Cole, and Ray Charles. Class discussion: How could music represent, advance, and/or retard integration? February 11 Research first paper February 16 Read Fighting Back in Civil Rights Reader. Class discussion: How did America come of Age? February 17 Sojourner Rolle performance.. 7 pm Lundring February 18 Civil Rights Movement and a changing of the guard. Read Civil Rights Reader, pp. 107-132. Ain t scared of your jails. Music samples include Hank Ballard, the Drifters, and Sam Cooke. February 23 - Read Popular Music. Music samples include Harry Belafonte and Chubby Checker. Class discussion: Did music respond to the changing of the guard? February 25 - The time of the Freedom Rides and gospel music. Samples include Mahalia Jackson and CORE Freedom Singers. March 2 Read Afro-Christian Music and Religion. Religion, Religious music and the Movement. Music samples include several gospel groups and singers. Group discussion: The role of the Church and its congregations in the Movement. First paper due: March 2 March 4 The Albany Movement. Read Civil Rights Reader, pp. 133-146. Music samples include SNCC Freedom Singers signing Ain t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around and I Woke Up This Morning with My Mind on Freedom. Also, Willie Peacock and Betty Mae Fikes March 9 Read Reagon, Let the Church Sing Freedom. March 14 - St. Paul or Bethel field trip. March 16 Read Saul, Hard Bop and the Impulse to Freedom. pp. 1-25.
March 18 Read Saul Radicalism by Another Name: The White Negro Meets the Black Negro. pp. 61-96. March 23 - Read Ann Moody s Coming of Age in Mississippi. Music samples include Bertha Gober, Blind Boys of Mississippi, and Ray Charles. Class discussion: Everyday life in the south. March 25 Mississippi cont. Read Civil Rights Reader, pp. 166-203. Music sample - Nina Simone. Second paper due: March 25 March 26-April 5 Spring Break. April 6 Spring of 1963. Read Civil Rights Reader, Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Class discussion Letter from Birmingham City Jail. Music samples include Joan Baez and song-sermons by, for example, Reverend Lawrence Campbell. April 8 Read Saul, The Riot in Reverse: The Newport Rebels, Langston Hughes, and the Mockery of Freedom. pp. 123-143. April 13 Read Saul, Outrageous Freedom: Charles Mingus and the Invention of the Jazz Workshop. pp. 147-179 and This Freedom Slave Cries: Listening to the Jazz Workshop. Pp. 180-205. April 15 Summer of 1963: The march on Washington. Music selections include Go Tell It On the Mountain, Freedom Train, and Which Side are You On? Class discussion: The political, social, and cultural consequences of the march on Washington. April 20 - Freedom Summer 1964 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Music samples will focus on folk music: Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez. Class discussion: the use of folk music in the Movement. Class discussion: What can we learn about civil rights and racism from these musicians? April 22 Black Power. Read Civil Rights Reader, pp. 244-287. Also read Freeland We re a Winner. On reserve in the library. Music samples include Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions. April 27 Black Power. Read Civil Rights Reader, pp. 333-382. Music samples include John Handy and the Freedom Band, Charles Mingus, Max Roach, and Abby Lincoln. April 29 Black Power cont. Read Saul Loving A Love Supreme: Coltrane, Malcolm, and Revolution of the Psyche. 244-301. Also Black Panther Party Platform by Bobby Seal (recording). Music samples include John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and Archie Shepp. May 4 Black power and the music cont. Read Saul, The Road to Soul Power : The May Ends of Hard Bop. pp. 302-336. May 6 - Read Civil Rights Reader, pp. 383-438. Read I See the Promised Land speech delivered by Martin Luther King in Memphis, April 3, 1968, the night before he was assassinated in Civil Rights Reader, pp. 409-419. Sermon Funeral Eulogy by Pastor Ediemae Layne (recording) and song samples include Nina Simone The King of Love is Dead. Third paper due: May 6
* Four Steps in a Research Project: Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Select Topic Find Literature and Make Argument Find Evidence Music Choose a topic that is of interest to you. Consult Professor Freeland What have scholars written about the topic you chose? Find out by reading: Books Academic Journal Articles and Music Books. Listen to music where relevant. Consult the library research advisor. Formulate the main argument you want to present in your paper. Consult with Professor Freeland or supporting faculty Support your argument with evidence. For example: Documents Statistics Recordings Etc. Consult the library research advisor or supporting faculty