We Shall Overcome

And I'm really glad Merlene had overcome it! One more reason to admire her!

And in case you wonder, when was the above portrait of Merlene, that you too can't stop starring at, taken - here is the answer: in March 2003 for her interview when she was nearly 43 years old. Does one have the right to say "old" at all?

Edvard Bogataj

Below is the song - and underneath is the explanation of it's origins...

We shall overcome...

We Shall Overcome

We Shall Overcome became the anthem that set America marching towards racial equality. By tracing the sources of song, this pathbreaking film uncovers the diverse strands of social history which flowed together to form the Civil Rights movement.

Narrated by Harry Belafonte We Shall Overcome begins in an isolated wood frame church deep in the Sea Islands of South Carolina where spirituals like "I Will Overcome" helped blacks endure the long and brutal years of slavery. Veterans of a 1945 tobacco strike in nearby Charleston explain how it seemed natural to make "We Will Overcome" their rallying cry.

At Myles Horton's Highlander Center in Tennessee, white folk singers like Pete Seeger and Guy Carawan first encountered the song from the strikers and changed the lyrics to "We Shall Overcome." These "Peoples' troubadours" began teaching the song to the young activists of the Civil Rights movement. Over historical footage of themselves during the Sixties, the SNCC Freedom Singers. Julian Bond and Andrew Young reminisce about what this song meant during the sit-ins, voter registration drives and protest marches of those heroic years. We hear popular folk singers Peter, Paul and Mary introduce the song to audiences across the country and Joan Baez sing it at the 1963 March on Washington.

The film concludes with an inspiring montage of peace, antinuclear and environmental activists around the world singing "We Shall Overcome." In one moving scene, Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa sings the song and adds. "When we sing 'We Shall Overcome,' what we will overcome is injustice, is apartheid, is separation - all that is dehumanizing."

Other films have chronicled the events and personalities of the Civil rights movement; We Shall Overcome goes directly to the unique vision which moved millions. As Bernice Reagon says, "Every time you hear the song...you're talking about people coming together, organizing, so they can transform their lives."

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

Thomas Jefferson's stirring words, written in 1776 in our Declaration of Independence, defined the promise of America--freedom and equality for all. The words rang hollow, however, for the millions of African Americans held in slavery prior to the Civil War, and later denied political, economic, educational, and social equality by unjust laws and social customs. This National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary tells the powerful story of how and where the centuries-long struggle of African Americans to achieve the bright promise of America culminated in the mid-20th century in a heroic campaign we call the modern civil rights movement. Many of the places where these seminal events occurred, the churches, schools, homes, and neighborhoods, are listed in the National Register of Historic Places and are included in this itinerary.

Throughout history, African Americans resisted their slavery and later second-class citizenship. Opposition took many forms, from the passive resistance of slaves who performed poor work for their masters, to slave revolts, to slaves escaping to freedom on the Underground Railroad, to African Americans' participation in the Abolitionist movement and their joining the Union army during the Civil War. During this trying period African Americans preserved their heritage and social institutions.

Following the Civil War this country moved to extend equality to African Americans with the passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution (1865) which outlawed slavery, the 14th Amendment (1868) which made citizens of all persons born in this country and afforded equal protection of the laws to all citizens, and the 15th Amendment (1870) which provided the right to vote to all citizens, regardless of race (In 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified giving women the right to vote). This promising start soon faltered during the tensions of Reconstruction (1865-1877) when federal armies occupied the South and enforced order.

Bus Station, Durham, North Carolina, 1940 Photograph by Jack Delano Photograph courtesy of Library of Congress, LC-USF33-20522-M2

The genuine reform impulse of Reconstruction was the "first" civil rights movement, as the victorious North attempted to create the conditions whereby African Americans could freely and fully participate in this country as citizens. It was a noble experiment in bi-racial harmony, and, had it succeeded, there probably would have been no need for a "second" civil rights movement.

Exhausted by the efforts and divisions of the Civil War and Reconstruction and the longing for the country to reunite, the white advocates of equality were overcome by the forces of reaction, and the fate of African Americans was turned over to the individual states. Many states adopted restrictive laws which enforced segregation of the races and the second-class status of African Americans. The courts, the police, and groups such as the Ku Klux Klan all enforced these discriminatory practices.

African Americans responded in a variety of ways. Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), the early 20th century's leading advocate of black education, stressed industrial schooling for African Americans and gradual social adjustment rather than political and civil rights. The charismatic reformer Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) called for racial separatism and a "Back-to-Africa" colonization program. But it was a different path, one that emphasized that African Americans were in this country to stay and would fight for their freedom and political equality, that led to the modern civil rights movement and is the focus of this National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary.

In visiting the 49 places listed in the National Register for their association with the modern civil rights movement, as well as the Selma-to-Montgomery March route--a Department of Transportation designated "All-American Road" and a National Park Service designated National Historic Trail--two things will be apparent. First, although they had white supporters and sympathizers, the modern civil rights movement was designed, led, organized, and manned by African Americans, who placed themselves and their families on the front lines in the struggle for freedom. Their heroism was brought home to every American through newspaper, and later, television reports as their peaceful marches and demonstrations were violently attacked by law enforcement officers armed with batons, bullwhips, fire hoses, police dogs, and mass arrests. The second characteristic of the movement is that it was not monolithic, led by one or two men. Rather it was a dispersed, grass-roots campaign that attacked segregation in many different places using many different tactics. On this itinerary you will learn about the people and places associated with one of the most important chapters in our history.

The properties included in the itinerary are related to the modern civil rights movement, that is, with a few exceptions, the events of the post-World War II period, and especially the 1950s and 1960s. The focus of the itinerary is the African American freedom struggle, and does not include the attempts of other minority groups, such as Asians, Hispanics, or Native Americans, to obtain equality. The list of properties included in the itinerary does not represent all of the sites important in the civil rights movement; a number of these places have yet to be recognized by National Register listing. The 49 properties have been nominated by the States and listed in the National Register over the years, and do not represent a systematic effort to survey, identify, and list all important civil rights sites in the National Register.

This travel itinerary was prepared as a cooperative project between the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, and the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. Both agencies have formally recognized the historic significance of the Selma-to-Montgomery march of 1965. Congress has designated, and the National Park Service administers, the Selma-to-Montgomery National Historic Trail based on the route's national significance in American history. The Federal Highway Administration has designated the march route as an All-American Road.