Songs on Racial Justice

Here are some important racial justice songs we won't shine a special light on. (*zipper songs)

Songs from and about the U.S. Civil Rights Movement (1950s-60s):

• We Shall Overcome *
• Woke Up This Morning *
• Freedom Is a Constant Struggle *
• Ain't Gonna Let Nobody *
• O Freedom! *
• Hold On ("Keep Your Eyes on the Prize") *
• I'm Gonna Sit at the Welcome Table
• Calypso Freedom (Freedom's coming & it won't be long)
• A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke
• What's Going On by Marvin Gaye
• Ella's Song ("We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest") by Bernice Johnson Reagon - you can just sing the refrain!
• Glory by Common & John Legend (from the film "Selma")

Other songs by African Americans:

• Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) by Marvin Gaye
• Rise Up by Andra Day (has become an anthem for the Black Lives Matter movment)
• Somebody's Hurting My Brother by Yara Allen (of Poor People's Campaign) *
• I'm Gonna Lift My Sister Up by Faya Rose Toure *
• We Gotta Pray by Alicia Keys (her response to the killings of Eric Garner & Michael Brown)
• Be Free by J.Cole (on Black Lives Matter)
• Better Days by Victoria Monet

Songs related to the South African Anti-Apartheid Movement:

• Senzenina
• Asikatali
• Siyahamba
• Freedom Is Coming
• Something Inside So Strong by Labi Siffre (written when he saw video of killings of Black protesters in streets of South Africa)

Songs by singers of European descent:

• Those Three Are On My Mind by Pete Seeger & Frances Taylor (about 1963 Klan killing of 3 civil rights workers in Mississippi)
• It Isn't Nice by Malvina Reynolds
• Birmingham Sunday by Richard Farina
• Here's to the State of Mississippi by Phil Ochs
• Bound for Freedom by Pat Humphries (of Emma's Revolution)
• It's a Long Way by Bill Harley
• One in Six by Charlie King & Rick Burkhardt
• Hatred Has No Place by David Heitler-Klevans * (of Two of a Kind)
• I Have Seen Freedom Being Born by Si Kahn

​SONGBOOK SONGLISTS

RISE UP SINGING: The "Freedom" chapter in Rise Up Singing is devoted to songs related to the U.S. Civil Rights Movement: www.riseupandsing.org/songbook/rise-up-singing/freedom

Other racial justice songs in Rise Up Singing include: Bourgeois Blues, Dancing in the Streets, Heaven Help Us All, Carry It On, Free At Last, Over My Head, Asikatali, Once to Every Man & Nation (abolitionist hymn), Because All Men Are Brothers, Color Song, Same Boat Now, Lucretia Mott, We Shall Not Be Moved.

RISE AGAIN: The "Freedom" chapter in Rise Again, on the other hand, includes liberation songs from a variety of movements including anti-apartheid songs from South Africa www.riseupandsing.org/songbook/rise-again/freedom

Other songs in Rise Again on racial justice include: Colors of Earth, Still Small Voice, It's a Long Way, People Get Ready, There'll Be No Distinction There, We Are Soldiers, Is There Anybody Here

Note: We are working on a list of songs that should never have been put in our songbooks because their content either contributes to or is complicit with the systemic culture of white supremacy. Here are a few of the songs with significant racist content, issues, and/or history:

• Before They Close the Minstrel Show (RUS Creativity)
• Kentucky Babe (RUS Lullabies)
• Mr Bojangles (RUS Creativity)
• The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (RUS America)
• O Susannah (RUS Play)
• Old Folks at Home (Home)