Civil rights movement in popular culture

Music

Sung during the civil rights movement

• "We Shall Overcome", gospel-based song that became an anthem for the civil rights movement.
• "
  spiritual
  song of disputed origin sung during the movement.
• "
  spiritual
  -based song often sung during the civil rights movement.
• "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize", sung during the Movement actions, based on the traditional folk song "Gospel Plow".
• "Oh, Freedom", a post-Civil War African-American freedom song, popular during the Civil Rights Movement.
• "This Little Light of Mine", originally a hymn, the lyrics were modified as it became a movement anthem.
• "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round", movement song adapted from a spiritual.
• "If You Miss Me at the Back of the Bus" by Charles Neblett, a founder and member of The Freedom Singers
• "
  Freedom Rides.^[2]

• "Fables of Faubus" (1957), Charles Mingus's jazz composition written and performed in response to the Little Rock Nine incident
• "
  Murder of Emmett Till
• "Oxford Town" (1962), written and sung by Bob Dylan, pertains to James Meredith's enrollment at the University of Mississippi.
• "Alabama" (1963), John Coltrane's jazz composition response to a 1963 church bombing that killed four young girls.
• "A Change Is Gonna Come" (1964), written and sung by Sam Cooke, became an anthem for the civil rights movement.
• "Birmingham Sunday" (1964), Richard Fariña's response to the Birmingham church bombing recorded by Joan Baez, Fariña's sister-in-law, on her 1964 album Joan Baez/5.
• "
  Mississippi Goddamn" (1964), Nina Simone's response to the murder of Medgar Evers
  .
• "
  March on Washington
• "Keep on Pushing" (1964), rhythm and blues hit single by The Impressions.
• "Here's to the State of Mississippi", (1965) a protest song by Phil Ochs that criticizes the state of Mississippi for its mistreatment of African Americans.
• "Eve of Destruction" (1965) references the Selma to Montgomery marches.
• "Abraham, Martin and John" (1968), a tribute to Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr, John F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy written by Dick Holler and first recorded by Dion.
• "If I Can Dream" (1968), recorded by Elvis Presley in honor of King soon after King's death.
• Scenes from the Life of a Martyr (1981), a 16-part oratorio composed by Undine Smith Moore in memory of King.
• "MLK" (1984) by U2, a lullaby to honor Martin Luther King, Jr.
• "Pride (In the Name of Love)" (1984) a song about King by U2
• Joseph Schwantner: New Morning for the World; Nicolas Flagello: The Passion of Martin Luther King (1995), an album of classical music by the Oregon Symphony in honor of King.
• "Up to the Mountain (MLK Song)" (2006), Patty Griffin's song about the emotions surrounding King's 1968 I've Been to the Mountaintop speech.
• "A Dream" (2006), by Common for the film Freedom Writers, uses King's "I Have a Dream" speech
• "Glory" (2014), by Common and John Legend for the film Selma, won both the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song.
• "Mother of Muses" (2020) by Bob Dylan refers to the military defeats of the Confederate States of America and Nazism as "(carving) out the path for Martin Luther King".^[3]

Theater

• The Meeting (1987), a play about an imaginary 1965 meeting between Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X in a hotel in Harlem.
• James Baldwin: A Soul on Fire (1999), set in Baldwin's apartment on the morning of May 24, 1963, immediately before Baldwin and other Black leaders are scheduled to meet with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy concerning events in the civil rights movement.
• Hairspray (2002), a musical based on the 1988 film described above.
• The State of Mississippi and the Face of Emmett Till (2003) is a play centered on the murder and subsequent open-casket funeral of Emmett Till.
• Lorraine Motel
  the night before King's assassination.
• I Dream
  (2010), a musical about the life of Martin Luther King Jr.
• Lyndon Johnson and his work to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act
  .

• African-American girl who, in 1960, was the first to desegregate William Frantz Elementary School in the South during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis
  .
• Murder in Mississippi (1965), a painting and an important sketch by Norman Rockwell depicting the 1964 murders of civil rights activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.
• Bust of Martin Luther King Jr. (1970), by Charles Alston, has been featured in the Oval Office of the White House by the Obama and Trump presidential administrations.
• Martin Luther King, Jr., Prophet for Peace (1976), a statue of King and Emmett Till in Pueblo, Colorado, by Ed Rose
• U.S. Capitol Rotunda sculpture (1986), a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. by John Woodrow Wilson
• Civil Rights Memorial (1989), a memorial fountain in Montgomery, Alabama, designed by Maya Lin dedicated to 41 people who died in the civil rights movement.
• Statue of Martin Luther King Jr. (1993), in Mexico City.
• Landmark for Peace Memorial (1994), a statue honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in Indianapolis, Indiana, by Greg Perry and Daniel Edwards.
• Homage to King (1996), statue of Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia, by Xavier Medina Campeny.
• The Bridge (1997), sculpture in Atlanta, Georgia, by Thornton Dial honoring civil rights movement activist and SNCC leader John Lewis
• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
  (1998), a statue in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by Eric Blome.
• The Dream (1998), a sculpture honoring Martin Luther King Jr. in Portland, Oregon, by Michael Florin Dente.
• Martin Luther King Jr. (1999), a statue in Austin, Texas, by Jeffrey Varilla and Anna Koh-Varilla.
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial (2000), a bust and accompanying bas reliefs by Jonathan Shahn in Jersey City, New Jersey.
• February One (2002), a statue by James Barnhill in Greensboro, North Carolina, commemorating the four students who organized the 1960 Greensboro sit-ins.
• Mohandas Gandhi, Rosa Parks, and Sojourner Truth
  .
• Statue of Martin Luther King Jr. (2007) in Houston, Texas, by Ed Dwight.
• The Virginia Civil Rights Memorial (2008), designed and sculpted by Stanley Bleifeld, consists of 18 statues representing individuals, including student Barbara Johns, who protested to bring school desegregation to the state.
• Rose Parks
  waiting for a bus.
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial (2011), showcases the Stone of Hope, a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. by Lei Yixin, and several surrounding art pieces and quotations on the National Mall
  in Washington, D.C.
• St. Augustine Foot Soldiers Monument (2011), by Brian R. Owens, commemorates the activists who participated in the 1963-64 St. Augustine movement.
• Emmett Till: How She Sent Him and How She Got Him Back (2012), a painting by Lisa Whittington depicting the results of the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till
• Rosa Parks (2013), statue in National Statuary Hall
  , Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.
• Statues of Martin Luther King Jr. (2015, 2021), two statues of Dr. King by Thomas Jay Warren in Newark, New Jersey
• Open Casket (2016), a painting by Dana Schutz depicting Emmett Till after his 1955 lynching.
• Martin Luther King Jr. statue (2017), designed by Martin Dawe from a photograph from the Montgomery bus boycott, Atlanta, Georgia
• Continuing the Conversation (2018), a double-statue of Rosa Parks by Martin Dawe, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia
• Hope Moving Forward (2021), a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta, Georgis, designed by Basil Watson
• The Embrace (2023), statue of Martin and Coretta King hugging, by Hank Willis Thomas, Boston