We Shall Overcome
Backgrounder: We Shall Overcome
is synonymous with the African
American Civil Rights Movement
(1955-1968). And is frequently
sung today after hate tragedies.
Most ascribe the origin to a gospel
hymn by Methodist preacher
Charles Albert Tindley (1851-1953),
who penned 50 hymns while
ministering in Philadelphia; and
credit the lyrical origins of “We
Shall Overcome” to the refrain of
Tindley’s “I’ll Overcome Some Day.
Guy Carawan (b.1927), a white
folk musician introduced the song
to the Civil Rights Movement
by teaching it to the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Comm
in North Carolina, in 1960.
The song was then picked up
by folk singers such as Joan Baez
in the early 1960s and sung at
folksong concerts & protest rallies
where it became adapted for the
Civil Rights Movt with new stanzas.
Continue reading “Prayer Thot for the Day (Nov 8)”