AP® African American Studies review sheet from Aim for Five (aimforfive.com/african-american-studies/units/4/4-8)
Unit 4 · Topic 4.8
4.8 The Arts, Music, and Politics of Freedom
Black artists, poets and musicians brought the Black Freedom movement to global audiences, from the Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén to the jazz bassist Charles Mingus. At home, freedom songs adapted from hymns, spirituals and gospel gave marchers courage and unity, with 'We Shall Overcome' as the movement's anthem.
Key terms
- freedom songs
- We Shall Overcome
- Charles Mingus
- Nicolás Guillén
- protest music
Art as protest
During the Black Freedom movement, Black artists used many forms of expression to fight for racial equality. Their work carried African Americans' struggle to audiences around the world and strengthened similar efforts by Afro-descendants in other countries. Performers like Josephine Baker, who had moved to France, criticized the US for promoting democracy abroad while keeping segregation at home; she spoke at the 1963 March on Washington.
Responses to Little Rock
In 1957 Arkansas governor Orval Faubus used the National Guard to block nine Black students from integrating Little Rock's Central High School (4.4). Artists in several countries responded.
Nicolás Guillén, the Afro-Cuban poet of Negrismo (4.1), wrote 'Little Rock' (1958). His poetry linked anti-Black racism in the US to racism in Latin America and denounced segregation and racial violence for readers beyond the US.
The jazz bassist Charles Mingus wrote 'Fables of Faubus' to mock the governor. In 1959 his record label wouldn't let him include the lyrics, so it came out as an instrumental. In 1960 he recorded it with words as 'Original Faubus Fables', a required source, using call and response to ridicule segregation.
Freedom songs
Faith and music inspired and mobilized the movement. Many freedom songs were adapted from hymns, spirituals (2.9), gospel songs and labor union songs, often in Black churches, which gave space for organizing and for mixing these musical traditions. Songs like 'Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around', represented by the required recording of 'Can't Turn Me Around', changed a few words of older songs to fit the moment.
Freedom songs did several jobs. They unified marchers, renewed their spirits when they were afraid, gave direction through their lyrics and expressed hope for a more just future. Singers like Mahalia Jackson and Harry Belafonte performed famous versions, but freedom songs were usually sung together by groups, reflecting the community spirit of the Black church.
In Why We Can't Wait (1964), a required source, King wrote about the Birmingham campaign, including the freedom songs that gave protesters courage at mass meetings and marches. King also called 'We Shall Overcome' the anthem of the movement. Activists sang it while marching, protesting, being arrested and sitting in jail, and it inspired a 1966 speech of King's with the same title.
Worked examples
Try each one yourself first, then open the solution.
- Example 1
Explaining functions of music
Explain two ways freedom songs supported the Civil Rights movement.
Show the solutionHide the solution
- Step 1: Function 1: unity and courage in dangerous situations.
- Step 2: Function 2: communicating goals and hopes through lyrics.
- Step 3: Use a specific song as evidence.
Answer: Model answer: Freedom songs gave activists courage and unity in frightening moments; marchers sang 'We Shall Overcome' while facing arrest and in jail cells. They also communicated the movement's goals: songs like 'Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around' adapted older spirituals and hymns to express determination and hope for a more just future.
Common mistakes
- Seeing art as separate from activism. Poems, jazz and songs were tools of protest.
- Forgetting the international side. Artists like Guillén and Baker brought the struggle to global audiences.
- Thinking freedom songs were all brand new. Most adapted older spirituals, hymns and labor songs.
On the exam
- Audio, lyrics and poems may appear as sources. Explain what the work protests and how it uses African American traditions like call and response.
- Connect freedom songs back to spirituals (2.9) and forward to later Black music (4.17).
Connected topics
Videos
Check yourself
4 questions on 4.8 The Arts, Music, and Politics of Freedom. Pick an answer to see if you got it, and why.
In a typical 1960s performance, marchers sing "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around," adapted from an older spiritual. A song leader sings a line, the crowd answers, and new verses name local officials and the jail.
Description written for this practice set of a civil rights freedom song performance
The song best illustrates how freedom songs
The leader-and-crowd pattern in the performance is an example of
The Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén wrote "Little Rock" (1958), and the jazz bassist Charles Mingus composed music mocking Arkansas governor Orval Faubus. Both works most directly
"What happened in Selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every section and State of America. It is the effort of American Negroes to secure for themselves the full blessings of American life. Their cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just Negroes, but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome."
President Lyndon B. Johnson, special message to Congress, March 15, 1965
Johnson's use of the words "we shall overcome" was significant because
0 of 4 answered