"WE WON'T WATER DOWN THE SONGS WE SING" FOR MLK

In this thoughtful, soulful piece from the political site Daily Kos, writer-activist Denise Oliver Velez surveys the role of song in the movement led by MLK. She details the spirituals and other songs that energized and uplifted those enmeshed in the struggle and the dogged commitment of those who sang them. And she quotes Dr. King on how vitally important these songs were:

In a sense, the freedom songs are the soul of the movement. They are more than just incantations of clever phrases designed to invigorate a campaign; they are as old as the history of the Negro in America. They are adaptations of the songs the slaves sang—the sorrow songs, the shouts for joy, the battle hymns and the anthems of our movement. I have heard people talk of their beat and rhythm, but we in the movement are as inspired by their words. "Woke up This Morning with My Mind Stayed on Freedom" is a sentence that needs no music to make its point. We sing the freedom songs today for the same reason the slaves sang them, because we too are in bondage and the songs add hope to our determination that "We shall overcome, black and white together, we shall overcome someday."

Read the entire piece here, lift your voice and let's continue the work of the man and the movement we celebrate today.