On Monday I blogged about 5 songs that had helped shape Civil Rights Movement, and were sung during the rallies, sit ins, marches, arrests and beatings. These songs, often spirituals adapted during or after slavery, had no authors, but belonged to everyone. They were a civil rights soundtrack made of the people, for the people, and by the people. But what about the original songs that were written, composed, performed, and recorded to capture the injustice and racism that made the Civil Rights Movement so urgent? They may be written by songwriters, and not by the people. But they were certainly written for the people. These next songs are 5 of the countless ballads whose poignant lyrics and moving melodies raised awareness, called for action, and helped create that the Civil Rights Movement.

1. Old Man River (1927) was written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II for the 1927 musical Show Boat and is sung by the character Joe, a black dockworker. But it was Paul Robeson who immortalized the song in the 1936 film version of Show Boat directed by James Whale. Paul Robeson, the singer, actor, athlete, trained lawyer and activist performed the song on countless occasions in recitals all over the world. But he would sing his own version, with his own lyrics which made the character of Joe more empowered and dignified. For example, instead of saying “Tote that barge! Lift that bale! Git a little drunk, An’ you land in jail,” Robeson sang “Tote that barge and lift dat bale! You show a little grit and You lands in jail.” And Robeson replaced “Ah gits weary. An’ sick of tryin’; Ah’m tired of livin, an skeered of dyin. But Ol’ Man River, he jes’ keeps rolling along!” with “But I keeps laffin, Instead of cryin, I must keep fightin; until I’m dyin. And Ol Man River, he’ll just keep rollin’ along!” Although the film was extremely popular, the 1936 version was taken out of circulation because of the black list against Paul Robeson until it debuted on cable television in 1983. Both Show Boat, which was the first integrated musical, and the song Old Man River highlight taboo subjects like passing for white, interracial relationships, and the tragedy of racism.

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The Civil Rights Movement is one of the most moving and transformational chapters of Black history so it’s appropriate to highlight it during Black History Month. And it is hard to imagine the Civil Rights Movement without the songs people sang during the good and the bad, during the rallies, sit ins, marches, arrests and beatings. In the face of violence, the songs were not just tools of inspiration but tools of non-violent resistance. While there were too many songs too count, these stand out as among the best.

1. We Shall Overcome was a gospel song, which became a civil rights anthem during a strike in Charleston in 1946. One of the women walking the picket line outside of the American Tobacco Company, started singing the spiritual. Zilphia Horton, the co-founder of the Highlander Research and Education Center, learned the song and taught it to Pete Seeger, who taught it to other folk singers, including Guy Carawan who performed it and taught it at the founding meeting of the Civil Rights Organization SNCC ( Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.) The song then became an anthem not only for the Civil Rights movement in the United States, but for South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement, North Ireland’s independence movement, and many other independence movements in countries including India, Bengal, Czechoslovakia. Listen to Mahalia Jackson sing We Shall Overcome:

2. Oh Freedom is an anti-slavery spiritual that was sung by slaves. It is fitting that in 1963, this freedom song inaugurated the March On Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where 250,000 would rally for civil rights and labor rights, and where Martin Luther King would deliver his legendary I have a Dream speech. On the morning of August 28th, the protesters gathered at the Washington Monument, where Joan Baez sang Oh Freedom, immortalizing the song for generations to come.

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Since the Academy Awards coincide with Black History Month, I thought it would be appropriate to highlight the top 10 black actors who have won Oscars for Best Actor/Actress in a Leading Role. So Hollywood–which harbors, aids and abets, politically-correct, identity-politics-spouting, hand-out giving, limousine liberals–can finally shut up about the so-called “racism” and all the other fake “isms” they claim exist and need to be addressed. Here’s the list of black Academy Award Winners for Best Actor and Best Actress in a Leading Role, in chronological order.

1. 1963: Sidney Poitier wins for his role as Homer Smith in Lilies of the Field, becoming the first African-American actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.

1964-2000: Lots of white winners.

2. 2001: Denzel Washington wins for his role as civil rights luminary and martyr Malcolm X in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X, wins for his role as Rubin Carter, the real life legendary boxer, convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, who overcomes the racist criminal justice system, police corruption and brutality, and proves his innocence through his persuasive and passionate autobiography in Hurricane, for his role as the corrupt, criminal, violent, lecherous cop, Alonzo Harris, in Training Day.

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Several topics really stood out this week, including the Oscars as social advocacy inspiration, civil rights and Black History Month, and lots of hot news on entertainment going Green. Check out our most popular posts of the week on these subjects, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites.

Katie:

Happy Belated “Freedom to Marry” Week!

Rosa and Raymond Parks: Valiant Valentine #5

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Nicole:

Top 10 Oscar Picks to Inspire Social Action

Cornel West: Black Thoughts On Black History Month

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Giulia:

H&M’s “Fashion Against AIDS”

Ed Begley Jr. Goes Green

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Gina:

Top 10 Best Picture Winners That Inspire

Remixing “Chicago 10″

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Kerry:

How To Set the World On Fire Without Burning Out

Eco-Brokers Cater to Green Homebuyers

As Black History Month 2008 draws to a close, celebrate with Cornel West’s Never Forget 101 course created “to unsettle, unnerve, and un-house you, as we wrestle with the history of the modern world by highlighting the doing and the suffering of people of African descent.” Think.MTV features Cornel West as their Artist of the Week, and has created a series of short clips with West taking questions from a diverse representation of voices including black musical artists in a virtual lecture hall, as well as children in an actual classroom setting.

West’s signature raw, lyrical lecture style is a delight to listen to as he tackles questions by artists including George Clinton and Lupe Fiasco about wealth discrepancy, gang violence, the role of hip hop in contemporary society, and the search for unity in America.

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Roses in honor of Rosa Parks make a great gift because it allows you to give someone something beautiful, support a beautiful cause, and honor the legacy of a beautiful woman. Organic Style, an eco-friendly, socially responsible, Fair Trade on-line boutique, is selling the Freedom: Rosa Parks Rose bouquet, and donating a portion of its proceeds to the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, which Rosa co-founded. The Institute’s youth leadership “Pathways to Freedom” program teaches students the stories and values of the civil rights movement, and encourages them to engage in social justice and, in turn, encourage social justice in their own communities, as they do in the video above made entirely by students in the Pathways Program.

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Not sure how to celebrate Black History Month? Consider seeing A Rose Among Thorns, Ella Joyce’s once-woman show paying tribute to Rosa Parks in an effort to keep her oral history alive, celebrate her brave and exemplary character, and honor the civil rights movement by inspiring action and social change in both young and old alike. The show is touring various cities throughout the country, including Joyce’s hometown in Detroit and at the Rosa Parks Museum in Alabama. and find out when the production will be coming to your area.