Spoken Word & Poetry for Civil Rights

Maya Angelou​: ​Still I Rise An empowering performance about the struggle to overcome prejudice and injustice. It is one of Maya Angelou's most successful poems.

Nikki Giovanni:​ In​ The Spirit of Martin Nikki Giovanni gained initial fame in the late 1960s as one of the foremost authors of the Black Arts Movement. Influenced by the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement of the period, her early work provides a strong, militant African-American perspective, leading one writer to dub her the "Poet of the Black Revolution".

Leah Green:​ ​Change Spoken word artist and student Leah Green’s poem called "Change," about civil rights, equality and American democracy. This poem was written and performed shortly after the inauguration of Barack Obama.

Crystal Valentine:​ ​"Black Privilege" (strong language) Crystal Valentine is a writer, activist, and educator. A recent graduate of NYU, Crystal is the three-time Grand Slam champion of NYU’s poetry contest. She was also the 2015 NYC youth poet laureate and the 9th ranked woman poet in the world by Way of the Woman of the World Poetry Slam.

For more civil rights poetry and spoken word: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/collections/146367/poetry-and-the-civil-rights-movement

Songs for Civil Rights

Mahalia Jackson: ​We Shall Overcome This song was made as a protest song, and became a staple song during the Civil Rights Movement. The song derived from a previous gospel song by Charles Albert Tindley.

Billie Holiday​:​ Strange Fruit This song is performed most famously by Billie Holiday, who first sang and recorded it in 1939. Written by teacher Abel Meeropol as a poem and published in 1937, it protested American racism, particularly the lynching of African Americans.

Bob Dylan: ​Only a Pawn in Their Game This song is about the murder of Medgar Evers. ​In 1963, Evers, the leader of the Mississippi NAACP was murdered, shot in front of his home and his children. He was an activist who had investigated the murder of Emmett Till and assisted organizing the boycotts of gas stations that would not allow African Americans to use their restrooms.

John Legend: ​Pride (In The Name of Love) This song, written by the band, U2, honors those who have died fighting for equality for all people. Martin Luther King, Jr. is an example of a leader during the civil rights movement who believed in nonviolent resistance as a way to bring about change.

For more civil rights music: https://www.npr.org/2013/07/09/199105070/the-mix-songs-inspired-by-the-civil-rights-movement