The 25 Most Important Civil Rights Moments in Music History

In the long, ongoing battle over equality for all, these songs are the soundtrack.

Complex Original

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One of Black American culture's greatest contributions to the world: The American Civil Rights Movement. Of course, it wasn't created in a vacuum. The philosophical origins of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s philosophy of nonviolence can be directly attributed to those who came before, like Mahatma Gandhi. But the Black American Civil Rights Movement operated as the hinge, creating a means of action to push back against the powerful, and furthering the cause of women's rights, gay and lesbian rights, and equality for all.

Every step of the way, music played a crucial role. The conflicts and tensions boiling just beneath the surface sprang up through song. Sometimes artists addressed issues explicitly, in an attempt to change minds and hearts. Or they simply created transcendent art, providing therapeutic release and reaching diverse audiences, and helping them to find common ground. Or they soundtracked movements, permanently linking shared culture to historical moment.

Music provides a window into history, and history provides a window into music. Here is a chronological survey of the twenty-five most important Civil Rights moments in music history. And vice versa.

Fight the power: These are The 25 Most Important Civil Rights Moments in Music History.

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"Lift Every Voice" First Performed at Stanton School for Booker T. Washington

Date: February 12, 1900

Walk through the halls of any predominantly African-American grade school in the country and, before long, you'll hear a swell of school children singing a song frequently referred to as the Black National Anthem. "Lift Every Voice" started as a poem written in 1900. According to legend, the song was first performed by schoolchildren in Jacksonville, Florida, to welcome guest-speaker Booker T. Washington. James Weldon Johnson and his brother Rosamond wrote and arranged the song before leading their students at the then-segregated Stanton School through its first performance. The song went on to become an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement throughout its history, and would be butchered in public school auditoriums for years to come.

Billie Holiday Sings "Strange Fruit" for the First Time

Date: March 1939

An adaptation of Abel Meeropol's 1937 poem "Bitter Fruit," "Strange Fruit" has become one of Billie Holiday's most well-known performances, a poignant, tour-de-force exposing the widespread lynching of African Americans in the United States. In 1939, Holiday first performed the song at Cafe Society in Greenwich Village New York. She came to her label, Columbia, with the record, but, worried about backlash in the South, the label wouldn't record it. Instead, they released her from her contract for one session. She recorded the song through Vocalion records, and it sold a million copies, becoming her highest-selling record. So much for playing it safe.

Marian Anderson Performs at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter

Date: April 9, 1939

When the Daughters of the American Revolution refused Anderson the right to sing to an integrated crowd, it became national news. Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the organization in protest and with FDR helped Anderson secure a performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to massive fanfare and success. Millions tuned in on the radio, nearly 100,000 showed up in person, and the groundbreaking show set the stage for Anderson's next legendary moment: integrating the Metropolitan Opera in NYC in 1955. Eight years later, she'd go on to sing at the March on Washington during which Dr. King gave his "I Have A Dream" speech.

Chuck Berry's "Duckwalk" Integrates Southern Dancehalls

Date: 1956

Rock n' roll played an immeasurable part in getting blacks and whites stirred up during the 1950s. The genre itself was the result of a sustained, delicate blending of the blues and hillbilly sounds that defined and polarized the previous two decades. The early face of this new genre was Chuck Berry, and his risqué lyrics and signature moves sent teenagers of all colors into frenzy. A few years before Elvis's pelvic thrusts would define a generation, Berry's "Duckwalk" guitar solo created such demand from black and white audiences that clubs would hold integrated parties with velvet-ropes running down the middle of the dance floor to keep the races separated. With hits like "Maybellene" and "Johnny B. Goode" narrating the new youth movement, Chuck helped create the electrified new space where curiosities begat crossover and paradigm shifted, all with the kind of swag your favorite pop'n'lockin R&B singer would kill for.

Charles Mingus Records "Fables of Faubus"

Date: May 5, 1959

Initially released on 1959's Mingus Ah Um, this song offended Mingus' label, Columbia Records, finding the lyrics too controversial. They would only release the song as an instrumental. Mingus re-titled and released it as "Original Faubus Fables" on the aptly named Candid label the following year. With its loping rhythm, call-and-response lyrics and rickety construction, the song was a thorough satire of Arkansas governor Orval Faubus. In 1957, the governor had sent the National Guard to Little Rock Central High School in order to prevent integration. Most controversially (at the time), the song accused Faubus, the new Arkansas governor Winthrop Rockefeller, and President Dwight Eisenhower of being "sick and ridiculous," brainwashing and "teaching hate."

Ray Charles Refuses to Play in Augusta

Date: March 15, 1961

Though it wasn't quite the dramatized showdown Jamie Foxx portrayed in 2004's "Ray," the legendary soul singer did, in fact, turn down an offer to play a concert in his home state in 1961. When Bell Auditorium announced the show, students told Charles the dance floor would be for whites only and the upper balcony would be sectioned off for blacks. The singer immediately cancelled his appearance; he had crossed over two years prior with the hit "What'd I Say" and rejected the casual racism of the so-called "Chitlin' Circuit." The venue fined him for breach of contract, and in one of civil rights history's greatest flexes, he paid the fine and didn't play another show in Augusta, Georgia until after it was desegregated.

John Coltrane Records "Alabama"

Date: November 18, 1963

Early morning, September 15, 1963: four members of the Ku Klux Klan planted a box of dynamite under the steps of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The bomb was detonated a few hours later, murdering Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Denise McNair, ages 11-14. The incident became a lightning rod for the Civil Rights Movement. It also inspired jazz legend John Coltrane's elegaic "Alabama," recorded two months later on November 18, 1963. The song's a mournful tribute; according to Martin Smith's 2003 Coltrane biography John Coltrane: Jazz, Racism and Resistence, Coltrane's solo was patterned upon King's "Eulogy for the Martyred Children," the speech Dr. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. gave at the girls' funeral. That same year, Coltrane performed the song live on television's Jazz Casual, in front of a spellbound national audience.

Sam Cooke Records "A Change Is Gonna Come"

Date: December 21, 1963

After hearing Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," Cooke wanted to write a song about race with equal impact. He'd encountered racial turbulence in the year prior to "Change"'s release, when he and his tourmates tried to book a "whites only" hotel and were arrested for disturbing the peace. That incident was a key inspiration behind "Change," and the song naturally became a massive success in the black community upon release.

Nina Simone Performs "Mississippi Goddam" at Carnegie Hall

Date: May 17, 1964

"This is a showtune, but the show hasn't been written for it yet," Nina Simone said sardonically during her iconic Carnegie Hall performance of "Mississippi Goddam." Her voice laden with irony, Simone sang to a breezily boyant accompaniment, a biting response to the murder of Medgar Evers in June of 1963, as well as a more generalized critique of racism in the South. The upbeat tenor of the music contrasted dramatically with the song's dark lyrics. "I think every day's gonna be my last," sings Simone fatalistically, before making a direct indictment: "Oh but this whole country is full of lies / and you're all going to die and die like flies." The song would ultimately be banned in several Southern states; Simone was unbowed, although she would later claim to Jet magazine that "Mississippi Goddam" did damage to her career, and that the industry had "put a boycott" on her records.

Harry Belafonte and Petula Clark "Touch" on National Television

Date: April 2, 1968

Most widely known for his classic "The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)," legendary calypso singer Harry Belafonte made real history outside the studio by investing his own personal funds into the Civil Rights Movement, bankrolling organizations, financing the Freedom Rides and famously bailing Martin Luther King, Jr., out of prison. But his career's most controversial moment came during a 1968 television special, when Belafonte performed an anti-war duet with Petula Clark. Toward the end of the number, Clark walked toward Belafonte and grabbed hold of his bicep, and held it throughout the remainder of the song. A rep from Chrysler, the program's sponsor, pushed to have the take removed from the special, concerned that a black man and white woman touching each other on television would offend Americans. Clark and her husband (who executive produced the special) refused to alter the segment in any way, and pre-show chatter about "the touch" only boosted ratings.

James Brown "Saves Boston" from Riots with Televised Concert

Date: April 5, 1968

The spring of 1968 was darkened by the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the subsequent rioting that took place in cities across the country. Boston, Massachusetts, wasn't spared, and on the night the news broke, kids took to the streets in Roxbury, Dorchester and the South End to express their rage. James Brown was scheduled to perform there the next day, and the city decided to broadcast the show on local TV to keep folks in their homes and off the block. During the concert, attendees ran on stage and the police began to swarm, but Brown halted them and addressed the kids directly. "Now I asked the police to step back, because I think I can get some respect from my own people." The crowd obliged, and the concert went on without incident. The next day, he walked through the hoods of the Bean and personally asked the people not to riot, promising, "there's another way."

Sly Stone Confronts Racism on Stand!

Date: May 3, 1969

The top comment on the most popular YouTube stream of this song says it all: "you had to be there 1968 to 1970's as a young teen to fully understand this song we played this song as a protest song." Save the four line verse, this record is almost entirely an incessant repeat of the rebellious and uncomfortably catchy chorus. The album on which it can be found is called Stand!, an apt description for what was such a bold and brave move at the time.

"We Shall Overcome" at the Stonewall Riots

Date: June 28, 1969

The struggle for justice during the Civil Rights Movement was not limited to the descendants of former slaves in the United States, but that was the movement's crucible. "We Shall Overcome," a modification of Charles Albert Tindley's gospel song "I'll Overcome Someday," was introduced to the wider Civil Rights movement when Guy Carawan brought the song to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960. Nine years later, the Stonewall Riots marked a major moment in the emerging fight for gay and lesbian rights in the United States. Police raided the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village during a crackdown on gay bars in New York City; a crowd gathered, which soon became a large-scale protest. During the conflict, "We Shall Overcome" again became the soundtrack—the only difference, according to witness Edmund White: "they started camping it."

Jimi Hendrix Performs "Machine Gun" on the Dick Cavett Show

Date: September 9, 1969

Though a live version of this song was never released, it only took a few live performances in the late '60s to cement Hendrix's record in Civil Rights history. The song is told from the perspective of a soldier at war—Hendrix's way of addressing Vietnam—but there also thinly veiled battlefield metaphors about the plight of the Black Panther Party in urban areas like Chicago and New York. Fresh off a break-up with his group The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Hendrix shifted his attention from free love to social conscience and made an indelible impact.

Curtis Mayfield Gets Candid About Black America on Curtis

Date: September 25, 1970

When Curtis Mayfield left the Impressions to go solo, he embarked upon a new era of social and political themes in his music. Curtis was a grand statement of consciousness, and between records like "We People Who Are Darker Than Blue" and "Miss Black America," it was clear that the pop sheen of his previous efforts was no more.

Marvin Gaye Releases "What's Going On" As a Single

Date: January 17, 1971

Marvin Gaye needs no introduction: his name has become synonymous with the rich legacy of Motown and the soulful R&B that came to define Black music for decades to come. It should come as no surprise that the man released his (arguably) best single eleven albums into his career. "What's Going On" is all at once a gripping protest song, a syrupy love song and a giddy party starter. When the track dropped in 1971, Gaye was struggling through the sudden loss of his frequent collaborator and close friend Tammi Terrell, a brother that had been shipped off to war, and a country that was still mired in the dregs of violence and racism. Although inspired by an act of police brutality, "What's Going On" led to some of Gaye's most bright-eyed work on the landmark album of the same name, and gave the movement one of its defining anthems.

The Wattstax Music Festival Is Held in L.A.

Date: August 20, 1972

For the seventh anniversary of the Watts riots, California's black community had its own answer to Woodstock. Wattstax tickets were sold for $1 and, in between performances, had everyone from Jesse Jackson to Richard Pryor candidly addressing the black experience. The music performed maintained a theme of racial pride, from Kim Weston's opening with the "Black National Anthem," formally titled "Lift Every Voice and Sing," to the Staple Singers going in on "Respect Yourself." All of it was captured for a documentary released the following year. It'd go on to win a Golden Globe.

The Zaire '74 Music Festival

Date: September 22, 1974

After joining the Nation of Islam in the early 1970s, Muhammad Ali championed many causes for civil rights in America and abroad, but no moment felt more progressive than 1974's "Rumble in the Jungle" bout with George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire. The fight was promoted alongside the three-day "Zaire 74" music festival, featuring performances from James Brown, B.B. King and The Spinners, alongside popular African performers sharing a stage for the first time. Attendees flocked from across the globe for the event, as it was meant to symbolize a new era in African-American and native-African relations. To say nothing of its celebration of the iconic bell-bottoms and exposed chest-hairs of 1970s Soul.

Fela Releases "Zombie" and His Compound is Attacked by Soldiers

Date: February 18, 1977

Turned on to the Black Panther Party by his girlfriend Sandra Smith during a 1969 trip to the United States, Nigerian musician/activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti began infusing his Afrobeat music with revolutionary messages. In 1977 he and his band Afrika 70 released the album Zombie, whose brazen title track was a thinly veiled audio attack on the Nigerian army soldiers who backed up the corrupt regime that was making the independent African nation a "prison of people." The powers that be were not amused, and sent hundreds of soldiers to attack Fela's compound, which he referred to as the Kalakuta Republic. During the raid Fela was beaten, his compound and recording studio burned, and his mother was thrown from a window. She later died, and Fela responded by delivering her coffin to the steps of the military barracks in Lagos Nigeria. He would later write the song "Coffin for Head of State," form his own political party, and run for president in the 1980 elections—proving Fela's maxim that "Music is the weapon of the future."

Bob Marley's "One Love" Benefit Concert

Date: April 22, 1978

A decade after declaring independence from Britain, the island of Jamaica was locked in a bloody civil war between clashing political clans the People's National Party and the Jamaica Labour Party. Both had hired gunmen to police the streets and wipe out opposing voters, quickly obscuring the democratic process in gang violence and oppression. At the same time, Jamaica was gaining an unprecedented global influence through the spread of Reggae music, and Bob Marley was the face of the new genre. By 1978, members of both parties decided to channel Reggae's power and influence for a large benefit concert, with Bob Marley as headliner. During his set, Marley called for opposing politicians Michael Manley and Edward Seaga to join him on stage, and shook their hands together in a gesture of unity. It was meant to deliver a message to the people that they may not have been ready for—violence still plagued the island long after the concert—but it served as a symbol for how much Reggae music could affect the course of Jamaican history, as well as those who suffer throughout the globe.

Stevie Wonder Performs "Happy Birthday" at the Rally for Peace

Date: January 15, 1981

If you've ever been to a black birthday party, you've heard "Happy Birthday to ya'" sang in place of the more ubiquitous "Happy Birthday, dear Blah Blah" song, complete with two-step and soul-clap for good measure. The song actually originated during a campaign to declare Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a U.S. holiday. Stevie Wonder wrote the original in 1981 to raise awareness for the cause, and the full track finds him expressing his disbelief that anyone would oppose celebrating a day in MLK's honor. He held a massive concert/rally on the Washington Mall that January that featured Gil Scott Heron, Diana Ross, Jesse Jackson and several other key black figures, and toured throughout the South performing the song and spreading awareness of the cause. Eventually his message got through, and in 1983 Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law.

Michael Jackson's "Thriller" Breaks Down MTV's Racial Barrier

Date: December 2, 1983

There was a time, long, long ago, like the early 80s, where MTV was shook to play videos by black artists. It may be hard to believe, considering the many colors, creeds, and religions featured on music television today, often in compromising positions on gaudy reality TV shows (I see you, Salwa). But in the station's early years, programmers took a hard-stance toward its "rock" format, and R&B/funk/hip-hop artists were all left out to dry. It wasn't until MJ's inescapable, genre-smashing hit "Billie Jean" and its iconic video dropped that MTV was forced to adjust with the times or, according to Mike's label, have all other CBS programming pulled from the station. MTV folded, and unwittingly set up the King of Pop to change music videos forever with the 14-minute epic "Thriller." Soon, mainstream America couldn't get enough of seeing Black artists beamed into the comfort of their homes, and programs like "Yo! MTV Raps" became the station's bread and butter. Jackson proved there was room for all of us on the boob-tube, so hail the King of Pop next time you see Joe Budden on VH1.

Public Enemy Releases "Fight The Power" As a Single

Date: June, 1989

During the 1980s, an empowered new generation of Black youth began to interpret the civil rights movement in a different, more direct way, far removed from the "I Have A Dream" idealism of the 1960s. This moment was crystalized in the pastel wardrobes and white-hot dialogue of Spike Lee's "Do The Right Thing," and punctuated with the seven-minute companion video for Public Enemy's "Fight The Power." In the Lee-directed clip, Chuck D denounces the marches and speeches of the 60s and calls for more radical action, promising that "the young black America... ain't goin' out like that '63 nonsense." The clip documents a large rally in Bed-stuy against the racially motivated violence that had plagued the city-red, black, and green pan-African imagery, civilian militia in black suits and gumby fades, and a well-placed Decepticons flag all flash by before the beat even drops. This landmark song and video are widely considered hip-hop's greatest, and helped to mobilize a new youth culture with a civil rights movement of their own.

Elton John and Eminem's Duet at The Grammys

Date: February 21, 2001

Despite the bone-sober, American car slangin' father he's grown to be, Eminem once held the nation's attention with violent, explicit lyrics rich with, among other negative themes, homophobia. Songs like "Kill You" and "Criminal" painted Shady the ultimate blonde bad boy, and by 2001 interest groups all over the country were promoting the sale of his albums. No group was more vocal than G.L.A.A.D, who arranged a protest outside of the 2001 Grammy Awards where Em was scheduled to perform and up for a rack of awards. When he took the stage to perform his brooding hit "Stan," Em was joined by none other than Elton John, who delivered a stirring rendition of the Dido-sampling chorus. John's support for Em during this contentious point in his career spoke volumes to the possibilities that appear when dialogue takes the place of protest, and created a landmark moment in hip-hop's long, turbulent relationship with the LGBT community.

Kanye West Calls Out George W. Bush

Date: September 2, 2005

The Bush Jr. years were turbulent ones, punctuated by fruitless war, a nose-diving economy, and consistent political scandal. But if you ask Dubya himself, the low-point of his presidency was during 2005's Hurricane Katrina Benefit Concert, when Kanye West stared into the eyes of the nation and dropped the now-infamous sound bite "George Bush doesn't care about black people." It was one of the rare moments where the raw sentiments of many African-Americans were presented on the national stage, unfiltered-a sentence so concise and potent it would've made a great tweet had twitter been around back then. But it's really the confessional West gives before the quip that made this moment so powerful: "I've tried to turn away from the TV because it's too hard to watch... even to imagine if I was down there, those are my people down there." This was about empathy, not bigotry, and we still applaud Ye's courage to say what he knew his people felt.