Sing for Freedom: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement Through Its Songs

By Candie Carawan and Guy Carawan

Book Overview

Two classic collections of freedom songs, We Shall Overcome (1963) and Freedom Is A Constant Struggle (1968), are reprinted here in a single edition which includes a major new introduction by the editors, words and music to songs, important documentary photographs, and scores of firsthand accounts by participants in this key movement which reshaped U.S. history.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1588381935
• ISBN13: 9781588381934
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: NewSouth Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.0" x 9.9"

Customer Reviews

Music is powerful; it can bring joy, laughter, sadness, and most importantly, change

Music is powerful; it can bring joy, laughter, sadness, and most importantly, change. "Sing for Freedom: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement Through Its Songs" is a look at music and its impact on the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Packed with sheet music, lyrics, and information on various major songs and how they pushed progress in history, "Sing for Freedom" is enhanced with black and white photographs. A fresh perspective on the period, "Sing for Freedom" is highly recommended for community library black studies and music collections.

Buy two!

Anyone interested in promoting social justice through song needs this book, and at all times a spare one stuck in the guitar case or piano bench because you'll want to pass it on to others. It contains 115 songs (mostly melody lines and guitar chords); 135 crisply reproduced documentary photos from the civil rights movement and dozens of first-hand accounts from people who were there. In many cases, the writer, arranger or discoverer of the song provides the background notes. There is a companion CD by Folkways records with the same name that contains about 1/5 of the songs; it makes a nice set. Every library should have this book - what a vital way to teach history! Editors Guy and Candy Carawan are resident musicians at the Highlander Center and were in the center leading the music at many of the events discussed.