Civil Rights Music

Bob Dylan and Joan Baez at the March on Washington

Music was an integral part of the Civil Rights Movement. Songs protested racial injustice, unpopular wars, and other social conditions. At the 1963 March on Washington, before Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, several musicians performed for the gathered crowd, offering a good sampling of musical styles en vogue at the time. Some, such as Mahalia Jackson, sang in the gospel tradition deriving from the Blues and spirituals. Others, such as Joan Baez and Peter, Paul, & Mary, performed folk music, a blanket term for popular songs, usually accompanied by guitar. Also prominent at the march was Bob Dylan, whose musical styles spanned a variety of genera including folk, rock, and gospel.