Civil Rights Music
Civil Rights Music
The Soundtracks of the Civil Rights Movement
Reiland Rabaka
LEXINGTON BOOKS
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Rabaka, Reiland, 1972-
Title: Civil rights music : the soundtracks of the civil rights movement / Reiland Rabaka.
Description: Lanham : Lexington Books, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016011898| ISBN 9781498531788 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781498531801 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781498531795 (electronic)
Subjects: LCSH: Popular music--Political aspects--United States--History--20th century. | Civil rights movements--United States--History--20th century.
Classification: LCC ML3917.U6 R33 2016 | DDC 781.5/990973--dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016011898
TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
For the unsung singing soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement and their many musical heirs.
Lift Every Voice and Sing!: Acknowledgments
Lift every voice and sing—and march, and boycott, and protest, and sit-in, and freedom ride, and register to vote . . . a luta continua . . . ad infinitum. This book is humbly dedicated to the hundreds, perhaps the thousands, of unsung singing soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement. Their ideas and actions, their words and deeds, their passion and folk poetry inspired those within and without the movement and, truth be told, continues to do so up to the present moment. Although I am as enamored with the famous figures of the Civil Rights Movement as many others born in the aftermath of the movement, since I was a boy I have always held a quiet curiosity about the lives and struggles of the rank and filers and foot soldiers of the movement who solemnly marched, faced high-pressure fire hoses, the snarling fangs of police dogs, billy club beatings, jailings, shootings, lynchings, burning crosses, and the Ku Klux Klan all the while implicitly singing what they could not explicitly say as a consequence of American apartheid.
The singing marchers of the Civil Rights Movement did not merely inspire each other, but they also influenced and seemed to stir something deep within the more noted leaders of the movement. As this volume details, their voices, their songs, their powerful and poignant lyrics linger on and free-float through contemporary culture and society, but few today critically understand the origins and early evolution of why and how song (both sacred and secular) came to play such a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement. This book turns readers’ attention away from the famous figures of the movement to the rank and filers, foot soldiers, and seemingly forgotten figures of the Civil Rights Movement by focusing on the ways in which they captured and conveyed their collective views and values, as well as their heartfelt aspirations and frustrations, through various forms of black popular music, and specifically gospel, freedom songs, rhythm & blues, and rock & roll.
This book would not, and quite simply could not have been researched and written without the critical support of family and friends, as well as colleagues and comrades. Every word, sentence, paragraph, and chapter to follow bears the imprint of the diverse—although often antagonistic—intellectual, cultural, and political arenas I draw from, and endeavor to establish deep discursive dialogue with. As a consequence, the list of academics, organic intellectuals, activists, archivists, institutions, and organizations to which I am deeply indebted is, indeed, enormous. Such being the case, I hope I may be forgiven for deciding that the most appropriate way in which to acknowledge my sincere appreciation is simply to list them below without the protracted praise each so solemnly deserves.
My deepest gratitude and most heartfelt asante sana (a thousand thanks) is offered, first and foremost, to my family: my mother, Marilyn Giles; my father, Robert Dean Smith; my grandmothers, Lizzie Mae Davis and Elva Rita Warren; my great aunt, Arcressia Charlene Connor; my older brother and his wife, Robert Dean Smith II and Karen Smith; my younger brother, Dwight Randle Wellington Clewis; my nieces and nephews, Journée Clewis, Dominique Clewis, Kalyn Smith, Robert Dean Smith III, Ryan Smith, and Remington Smith; and my innumerable aunts, uncles, and cousins throughout the Americas, the Caribbean, and Africa.
A book project as ambitious as Civil Rights Music would have been impossible without the assistance of colleagues and comrades, both far and wide. As I have said on several occasions, my work is a reflection of my family and friends, as well as the research and writings of academics and organic intellectual-activists alike, who have made their own distinct contributions to my lifework and broader conceptions of social transformation and human liberation. Early versions of chapters of this book have been presented as work-in-progress papers in lectures, seminars, workshops, conferences, and symposia at many colleges, universities, churches, mosques, synagogues, museums, community centers, and prisons over the past few years. I would be remiss if I did not openly acknowledge how much I have appreciated all of the responses, constructive critiques, and help that I have received in thinking through the innumerable issues involved in offering a simultaneous sociology and musicology/alternative history and critical theory of the Civil Rights Movement. I have benefited immeasurably from critical discussions, whether on large or small points. Therefore, I express my earnest appreciation to the following fine folk, who each in their own special way contributed to the composition and completion of this book: William E. Cross, Jr.; Lucius Outlaw; Fred Lee Hord (aka Mzee Lasana Okpara); William M. King; Rhonda Nicole Tankerson; Martell Teasley; Denise Lovett; Adam Clark; Elzie Billops; Patrick De Walt; Awon Atuire; La’Neice Littleton; De Reef Jamison; Lynn Johnson; Gesel Mason; James Conyers; Jeffrey Ogbar; Molefi Asante; Maulana Karenga; Christel Temple; Jaime Duggan; Daniel Black (aka Omotosho Jojomani); Danielle Hodge; the editorial board of the Critical Africana Studies book series (Martell Teasley, Christel Temple, and Deborah Whaley); the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH); the Association of Black Women Historians (ABWH); the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora (ASWAD); the National Council for Black Studies (NCBS); the National Association for Ethnic Studies (NAES); the Critical Ethnic Studies Association; the Critical Race Studies in Education Association; the American Studies Association (ASA); the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM); the Black Artists’ Group (BAG); the Society for American Music (SAM); and the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM).
Several libraries, research centers, special collections, archives, and museums hosted and helped me transform this book from an inchoate idea into its fully-realized form. I am indelibly indebted to the directors, curators, librarians, archivists, and staffs of: the Highlander Research and Education Center, New Market, Tennessee; the N
ational Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, Tennessee; the National Museum of African American Music, Nashville, Tennessee; the National Voting Rights Museum, Selma, Alabama; the Civil Rights Project, University of California, Los Angeles, California; the King Library and Archives, the Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Atlanta, Georgia; the Martin Luther King Research and Education Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California; the A. Philip Randolph Institute, Washington, D.C.; the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Oakland, California; the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; the National Museum of American History, the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; the Association of African American Museums (AAAM), Washington, D.C.; the Banneker-Douglass Museum, Annapolis, Maryland; the African American Museum in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia; L. E. Coleman African American Museum, Halifax County, Virginia; Legacy Museum of African American History, Lynchburg, Virginia; the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, Greensboro, North Carolina; Afro-American Historical and Cultural Society Museum, Jersey City, New Jersey; Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, Alabama; Alabama State Black Archives Research Center and Museum, Huntsville, Alabama; the National African American Archives and Museum, Mobile, Alabama; Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, Jackson, Mississippi; the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi; Tubman African American Museum, Macon, Georgia; the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Atlanta, Georgia; Baton Rouge African American Museum, Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Bontemps African American Museum, Alexandria, Louisiana; New Orleans African American Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana; Northeast Louisiana Delta African American Heritage Museum, Monroe, Louisiana; the African American Museum, Dallas, Texas; DuSable Museum of African American History, Chicago, Illinois; Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, Michigan; America’s Black Holocaust Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Carter G. Woodson African American History Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida; John G. Riley Center/Museum of African American History and Culture, Tallahassee, Florida; California African American Museum, Los Angeles, California; the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African & African American Research, Harvard University; Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., Library, Harvard University; Arturo A. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a division of the New York Public Library; Nicholas Murray Butler Library, Columbia University; Institute for African American Affairs, New York University; Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, New York University; John Henrik Clarke Africana Library, Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell University; Charles L. Blockson African American Collection, Temple University; Center for African American History and Culture, Temple University; Center for Africana Studies, University of Pennsylvania; August Wilson Center for African American Culture, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Center for American Music, University of Pittsburgh; Center for Popular Culture Studies, Bowling Green State University; Center for Black Music Research, Columbia College Chicago; Karla Scherer Center for the Study of American Culture, University of Chicago; Center for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee State University; Center for the History of Music Theory & Literature, Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University; African American Cultural Center, University of Illinois at Chicago; Bruce Nesbitt African American Cultural Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; African American Cultural Center, North Carolina State University; H. Fred Simons African American Cultural Center, University of Connecticut at Storrs; Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University; John Hope Franklin Collection for African and African American Documentation, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University; Carter G. Woodson Center for African American and African Studies, University of Virginia; Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center Archives; Manuscript Sources for African American History, Special Collections, Emory University; John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies, University of Texas at Austin; Center for African American Studies, University of Houston; African and African American Collection, University Library, University of California, Berkeley; the Institute for Advanced Feminist Research, University of California, Santa Cruz; Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles; Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library, Denver Public Library; Center for Media, Arts, and Performance, Alliance for Technology, Learning, and Society (ATLAS) Institute, University of Colorado at Boulder; American Music Research Center, College of Music, University of Colorado at Boulder; Howard B. Waltz Music Library, College of Music, University of Colorado at Boulder; Department of Musicology, College of Music, University of Colorado at Boulder; African American Materials, Special Collections, George Norlin Library, University of Colorado at Boulder.
A number of researchers and writers’ work in what has come to be called “civil rights studies,” as well as what I am wont to call “civil rights musicology,” has indelibly influenced the alternative history and critical theory of the soundtracks of the Civil Rights Movement to follow. Here I would like to pay special tribute to them for opening up unimagined archives, research methods, and modes of interpretation, many of which blur the lines between history and critical theory, sociology, and musicology, as well as politics and aesthetics. I am grateful beyond words, indeed, beyond the literal debts cited in each chapters’ endnotes to: W. E. B. Du Bois; Carter G. Woodson; William Leo Hansberry; Rayford Logan; Charles Wesley; Benjamin Quarles; John Blassingame; Lorenzo Greene; Horace Mann Bond; John Hope Franklin; Mary Frances Berry; Nathan Huggins; Edgar Toppin; Vincent Harding; Manning Marable; Clayborne Carson; Darlene Clark Hine; Lerone Bennett; Aldon Morris; Gerald Horne; Paula Giddings; V. P. Franklin; Betty Collier-Thomas; Thomas Holt; Nell Irvin Painter; Robin D. G. Kelley; Barbara Ransby; Doug McAdams; Vicki L. Crawford; Raymond Arsenault; Diane McWhorter; Charles M. Payne; Lynne Olson; Harvard Sitkoff; Henry Hampton; Faith S. Holsaert; Davis W. Houck; Sara Bullard; Robert Weisbrot; Jeanne Theoharis; Peter J. Ling; Barbara Harris Combs; Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore; Thomas J. Sugrue; Patricia Sullivan; Lance Hill; Erik S. Gellman; Timothy B. Tyson; Leon Litwack; David Garrow; Taylor Branch; Adam Fairclough; Steven F. Lawson; Juan Williams; Eileen Southern; Bernice Johnson Reagon; Horace Clarence Boyer; Portia Maultsby; Mellonee V. Burnim; Jon Michael Spencer; Arnold Shaw; Nelson George; Samuel A. Floyd, Jr.; Earl L. Stewart; Peter Guralnick; Kerran Sanger; Lawrence Redd; Ron Eyerman; Andrew Jamison; Brian Ward; Mark Anthony Neal; Guthrie P. Ramsey, Jr.; Guido van Rijn; Dick Weissman; Rob Rosenthal; Dorian Lynskey; John Street; William G. Roy; Ian Peddie; Benjamin Filene; Ruth Feldstein; and Shana L. Redmond.
I would like to sincerely thank the very talented artist, Evan O’Neal Kirkman of the California College of the Arts, who graciously granted permission to use his work for the book cover. Evan, who also created the cover art for my books Concepts of Cabralism and The Negritude Movement, is an innovative artist who is incredibly adept at bringing a wide-range of history, theory, politics, and aesthetics into his creative productions. As fluent in avant-garde aesthetics as he is radical politics and critical social theory, Evan is a specialist in the art of social transformation. He has beautifully translated the core concepts of Civil Rights Music into a work of art that embodies the various voices and visions of the Civil Rights Movement and its respective soundtracks. Collaborating with him has been one of the real highpoints of researching and writing this book. Indeed, it is a better book because of his creativity and keen artistic eye.
In closing, I would like to acknowledge my editor, Brighid Stone, as well as the entire Lexington Books editorial board, who deserve very special thanks (maalum sana shukrani) for working with me during the many months it took me to revise the manuscript and prepare it for production. Finally, I should state outright to my most respected readers: If any inspiration or insights are
gained from the chronicles and critiques of the origins and evolution of the soundtracks of the Civil Rights Movement to follow, I pray you will attribute them to each of the aforementioned. However, if (and when) you find foibles and intellectual idiosyncrasies, contradictions and conceptual controversies, I humbly hope you will neither associate them with any of the forenamed nor, most especially, the unsung singing soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement. I, and I alone, am responsible for the alternative history and critical theory to follow. As is my custom, I will end in much the same manner that I began, once again, softly saying, almost silently singing my earnest and eternal prayer: Lift Every Voice and Sing!
Chapter 1
The Sociology of Civil Rights Music
The Civil Rights Movement and Sonic Second-Sight:
On the Extra-Musical Elements of Black Popular Music Circa 1945 to 1965
Mahalia Jackson, Brother Joe May, Dorothy Love Coates, The Soul Stirrers, The Staple Singers, Sam Cooke, Nina Simone, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Supremes, The Temptations, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, The Four Tops, Odetta, Richie Havens, Ruth Brown, Little Richard, LaVern Baker—these artists’ respective music is part of an often-unacknowledged continuum that stretches back to the spirituals and the Abolitionist Movement and reaches forward to rap and the Hip Hop Movement. In many quarters of the country there has been a longstanding belief that, if nowhere else in American culture and society, African Americans can be most true to themselves and truly express their aspirations and frustrations to each other and the wider world in their ever-evolving music, and African American art more generally speaking. One of the recurring themes of this book will be the notion that for black America during the Civil Rights Movement music was much more than merely music. Here I am, of course, building on Ralph Ellison’s classic contention in Shadow and Act (1964), where he eloquently argued that black popular music constitutes an indispensable element and cultural indicator of African Americans’ life-worlds and life-struggles.[1]
Civil Rights Music Page 1