There have been many myths about the start and execution of the civil rights movement that ultimately led to its success. Many people think that it came out of nowhere and gained the necessary support from a miraculous string of events. This is far from true as the roots of the civil rights movement have been growing from years before the success stories of the 50’s and 60’s. As stated in the reading “Singing Civil Rights”, the events were made possible by “countless hours, months and years of local activists from all segments.”

On that note, another myth was that the movement was mainly run by black men even though women had a very large part of the movement. Ella Baker was the prime example of this, leading the charge of the movement for many years. The amazing thing is, she continued to pursue freedom even without the same fame that the men were getting.

There are several other myths about the movement but these two seem to be the most important to get a true picture of what was really going on. With that said, the specific circumstances that pushed the movement to its maximum power can be seen in a true light. WWII had an immense impact on the movement. The reason is that the US was fighting against Germany because of the Nazi regime’s unfair treatment of innocent people. As the author states in “Singing Civil Rights”, “The irony that blacks were fighting Nazi racism in the name of a freedom they did not possess at home”. This really fully captures the lack of proper morals in the US that was finally coming to smack them in the face.

These causes were years after the movement for freedom originally began. So, what kept these people going all these years? Most analysts agree that it was music that kept them going. Singing freedom songs, specifically the words, “We will overcome”, powerfully influenced the black population to continue even in the darkest of times. There were many specific events that progressed the movement that were all started and sparked by the very music that they were singing.

Asides from music, photography really propelled the movement. The civil rights activists understood the power of photos in order to gain sympathy that inspires change. With that said, the various photos taken by Danny Lyon were very successful for the movement. The courage of Lyon putting himself in danger in order to take some of the pictures was very heroic. As Lampert describes in Chapter 18 of the book, photography became the eyes of the civil rights movement. There were many more photographers and specific events that helped gain ground.

Art also had a large impact on the movement. Emory Douglas and his art was designed to “rip the heart out of those oppressing the black community” (Lampart 199). His art become the icon for the Black Panther Party and its radical beliefs.

It can be concluded from here the importance of political art. It can propel a movement to unimaginable heights. We see this directly through the music, photography and art of the civil rights movement.

IF