Music in the Movement

Music in the Movement. March Route to Retail. Music was as much a tool in the Birmingham Movement as the marches themselves. The Movement Choir organized by the ACMHR performed regularly during the Monday night mass church meetings. The choir sang songs such as "God Will Make a Way Some How" and "Walk with Me Lord." The people believed that God's power worked through the songs, giving them courage in their non-violent struggle for civil rights. The choir's 18-year-old leader, composer and director Carlton Reese, changed lyrics of familiar spiritual hymns and popular gospel songs, turning them into powerful anthems and chants. "Project C" protestors sang and chanted these songs as they marched down Birmingham streets and as they sat in jail after their arrests. , Paired marker , May 4, 1963 , Hundreds of Birmingham teenagers pour out of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church as they begin their protest march to the retail district and other parts of downtown. They sing, “We're gonna walk, walk, walk, to Freedom ... Freedom ... Freedom.” However, their march against segregation ends when Connor's men unleash powerful streams of water from high-pressure fire hoses and snapping police dogs on them, all in an effort to keep the young marchers from reaching their targets in downtown Birmingham., "Singing songs was our way of washing away fear." , Cleopatra Kennedy , ACMHR choir member who was arrested in 1963 at age 20, Lesson B15: Discuss how music can influence people's behavior.