We Shall Overcome
Four days before his assassination, Martin Luther King quoted the lyrics of We Shall Overcome in his final sermon in Memphis, TN.
We shall overcome. We shall overcome. Deep in my heart I do believe we shall overcome. And I believe it because somehow the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. We shall overcome because Carlyle is right; “no lie can live forever”. We shall overcome because William Cullen Bryant is right; “truth crushed to earth will rise again”. We shall overcome because James Russell Lowell is right:
Truth forever on the scaffold,
Wrong forever on the throne.
Yet that scaffold sways the future,
And behind the then unknown
Standeth God within the shadow,
Keeping watch above his own.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to speed up the day. And in the words of prophecy, every valley shall be exalted. And every mountain and hill shall be made low. The rough places will be made plain and the crooked places straight. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together. This will be a great day. This will be a marvelous hour. And at that moment — figuratively speaking in biblical words — the morning stars will sing together and the sons of God will shout for joy. — MLK
Days later, over fifty thousand people sang “We Shall Overcome” at his funeral.
The song predates the civil rights movement with which it became associated. It had roots in the labor movement, beginning with the 1945–1946 Charleston Cigar Factory strike in Charleston, South Carolina. It may have evolved from “I’ll Overcome Some Day,” a hymn by Charles Albert Tindley, first published in 1901. It was popularized by singers like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Pete Seeger.
We Shall Not Be Moved
“He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved.” — Psalm 62:6
Several bible verses are credited for inspiring “I Shall Not Be Moved.” The song was copyrighted in 1908 by Alfred H. and B. D. Ackley. Neither should take credit as the song was originally a slave spiritual sung by those clinging to faith they would arise from their oppression.
The song was popular in white and Black churches, a symbol of unity and strength. The “I” became “We,” with “We Shall Not Be Moved” becoming part of the labor and civil rights movements as well.
“Well I’m on my way to heaven
We shall not be moved
On my way to heaven
We shall not be moved
Just like a tree that’s standing by the water side
We shall not be moved
We shall not we shall not be moved
We shall not we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that’s standing by the water side
We shall not be moved
On the road to freedom
We shall not be moved
On the road to freedom
We shall not be moved
Just like a tree that’s standing by the water side
We shall not be moved
We shall not we shall not be moved
We shall not we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that’s standing by the water side
We shall not be moved
We’re brothers together
We shall not be moved
We’re brothers together
We shall not be moved
Just like a tree that’s standing by the water side
We shall not be moved
We shall not we shall not be moved
We shall not we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that’s standing by the water side
We shall not be moved”
The Civil Rights Movement
While neither song originated in the civil rights movement, little went on in the civil rights movement without these songs. Every rally or protest I attended as a youth featured one or the other. Sometimes both songs were sung, or We Shall Not Be Moved became the 3rd or 4th verse of We Shall Overcome. People believed in what they were singing; the songs represented the hope and change that Barack Obama would verbalize decades later.
Lyndon Johnson used We Shall Overcome in an address to Congress after the Bloody Sunday March in 1965. These songs were sung at the 1963 March on Washington. They were likely sung in most Black churches in America. They were not intended to be sung by a choir to a sitting audience but by a standing crowd with personal conviction that these lyrics would come true. The songs were sung at the end of the program, a final note as people departed, meant to uplift and strengthen them to continue their mission. These songs were anthems, and their importance should never be minimized.
Appropriation by the Alt-Right
While you’ll never find white supremacists and Neo-Nazis singing these songs. They have appropriated the spirit and applied their perspective to what meant so much to the civil rights movement. What civil rights leaders meant for good, the alt-right meant for evil.
I define the alt-right as the universe that includes the Ku Klux Klan, white supremacists, Neo-Nazis, and racists of many stripes. I don’t equate conservatives with the alt-right. Many within the alt-right try passing themselves off as conservatives to deflect criticism, and many conservatives have strayed from their values, but they aren’t the same thing.
We Shall Not Be Moved has been replaced by “You Will Not Replace Us,” reflecting a fear that white people will be replaced by Jewish people and white culture will be devalued. They chant “Blood and Soil” to invoke patriotic identification with native national identity and build on a foundation of virulent anti-Semitism and racism. White Lives Matter is a reaction to Black Lives Matter in an attempt to dismiss the rightful concerns of those who rightfully fear those given immunity in advance for their murder under most circumstances.
The slogans and anthems of the alt-right mean as much to them as the songs of the civil rights movement. To them, not being moved means erasing all the concessions made in response to civil rights. Not being moved is eliminating affirmative action, removing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and suppressing votes, which is the legacy of this nation. Overcoming to them means erasing the parts of Black History that make you uncomfortable, taking money from public schools and giving it to charter schools in furtherance of segregation. See them for what they are and feel no shame in calling them out. White supremacy must be challenged because they won’t be budged and will overcome if allowed to.
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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.
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