VIDEOS: We Shall Overcome ~ A SONG THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

Alisdair and I are about halfway through reading a biography called "Martin Luther King, Jr.:  A photographic story of a life" by Amy Pastan.  We also have another colourfully illustrated book, by Ellen Levine, for young readers. This second book is titled ". . . If You Lived At the Time of Martin Luther King."

In Chapter 4 of Pastan's book, she describes the events of October 1960, when Martin Luther King was released from the Reidsville State Prison after Senator John F. Kennedy had intervened on his behalf.  Pastan writes:  "Back in Atlanta, Martin was greeted by crowds singing the hymn, We Shall Overcome, which had become the theme of the civil rights movement.  He stood in front of Ebenezer Baptist Church and thanked the senator who helped him, noting that he was a man of principle and courage.  King never said he would vote for Kennedy, but Negroes who heard him speak assumed he would" (Page 44).

Alisdair had never heard the song "We Shall Overcome" so I suggested we should look it up on You Tube.  We found many different versions and renditions of the song, and it was hard to decide which one we should feature here.  And so we decided to post three!

The first one is about the song itself and has a bit of a documentary feel.  It is also an advertisement for a book called, "We Shall Overcome:  A Song that Changed the World" by Stuart Stotts.



We chose the second selection because this choir is from Morehouse College.  Martin Luther King, Jr. entered Morehouse as a 15-year old and graduated from that institution in 1948.  He later went on to additional studies at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania and also to Boston University, but Morehouse College played a major role in his educational journey.



Finally, we chose the last video clip because it shows Martin Luther King, Jr. ~ as the man, as a preacher and as a leader.  I wondered aloud to Alisdair what might have transpired on the political stage if MLK had not been assassinated.  We shall never know.

We shall overcome,

We shall overcome,

We shall overcome some day,

Oh, deep in my heart I do believe

We shall overcome some day.

We'll walk hand in hand,

We'll walk hand in hand,

We'll walk hand in hand some day,

Oh, deep in my heart I do believe

We shall overcome some day.

We are not afraid,

We are not afraid,

We are not afraid today,

Oh, deep in my heart I do believe

We shall overcome some day.

We shall live in peace,

We shall live in peace,

We shall live in peace some day,

Oh, deep in my heart I do believe

We shall overcome some day.

~ Adapted from:  WE SHALL OVERCOME by Zilphia Horton, Frank Hamilton, Guy Carawan and Pete Seeger