Oh, Freedom
"Oh, Freedom" is a post-Civil War African-American freedom song. It is often associated with the Civil Rights Movement, with Odetta, who recorded it as part of the "Spiritual Trilogy", on her Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues album,[1] and with Joan Baez, who performed the song at the 1963 March on Washington.[2] Baez has since performed the song live numerous times, both during her concerts and at other events. The song was first recorded in 1931 by the E. R. Nance Family as "Sweet Freedom". Writer and radio producer Richard Durham used it as an opening in his 1948–1950 radio anthology Destination Freedom.[3]
Lyrics
The song had its roots in the spiritual "Before I'd Be a Slave," which had the central refrain:
O, what preachin'! O, what preachin'!
O, what preachin' over me, over me!
Before I'd be a slave, I'd be buried in my grave,
And go home to my Lord and be saved.
This was then repeated, with the first two lines changing with each repetition.[4] Modern recordings of this song use these same lyrics, with minor variations in phrasing and structure; the "Oh, Freedom" variant begins with "Oh freedom / Oh freedom / Oh freedom over me."[5]
Some versions have included a verse beginning with "No more tommin',"[citation needed] where the verb tom is a derogatory term denoting some black men's extreme submissiveness towards a white person or white people.[editorializing] The word seems to have been derived from Harriet Beecher Stowe's fictitious character Uncle Tom in her 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. These verses were not part of the original composition, but instead added to the tradition of improvisation in African-American music. Some contemporary folk singers have changed the refrain to a more spirited perspective - "And before I'd be a slave, I'll bury you in your grave and send you home to the lord for free"
Similarly, during the 1964 presidential campaign, civil rights activists opposing the candidacy of Barry Goldwater changed the words to "And before I'd be a slave / I'll see Barry in his grave / And go fight for my rights and be free."[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ Hawn, C. Michael. "History of Hymns: 'O Freedom' and 'Freedom is Coming'". Discipleship Ministries: The United Methodist Church. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
- ^ Trescott, Jacqueline (August 14, 2011). "Music of the Movement: 'Oh Freedom'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ Ashleigh Lawrence-Sanders, March 16, 2018, History, Memory, and the Power of Black Radio AAIHS.org
- ^ Barton, William Eleazar (1899). Old Plantation Hymns: A Collection of Hitherto Unpublished Melodies of the Slave and the Freedman, with Historical and Descriptive Notes. Lamson, Wolffe. p. 25.
- ^ Frohne, Andrea E. (2015). The African Burial Ground in New York City: Memory, Spirituality, and Space. Syracuse University Press. p. 252. ISBN 978-0815653271.
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- Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights
- Atlanta Student Movement
- Black Panther Party
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- Dallas County Voters League
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- Georgia Council on Human Relations
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- Roy Wilkins
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- Andrew Young
- Whitney Young
- Sammy Younge Jr.
- Bob Zellner
- James Zwerg
songs
- "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round"
- "If You Miss Me at the Back of the Bus"
- "Kumbaya"
- "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize"
- "Oh, Freedom"
- "This Little Light of Mine"
- "We Shall Not Be Moved"
- "We Shall Overcome"
- "Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind Stayed On Freedom)"
- Jim Crow laws
- Lynching in the United States
- Plessy v. Ferguson
- Buchanan v. Warley
- Hocutt v. Wilson
- Sweatt v. Painter
- Hernandez v. Texas
- Loving v. Virginia
- African-American women in the movement
- Jews in the civil rights movement
- Fifth Circuit Four
- 16th Street Baptist Church
- Kelly Ingram Park
- A.G. Gaston Motel
- Bethel Baptist Church
- Brown Chapel
- Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
- Holt Street Baptist Church
- Edmund Pettus Bridge
- March on Washington Movement
- African-American churches attacked
- List of lynching victims in the United States
- Freedom Schools
- Freedom songs
- Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam
- "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence"
- Voter Education Project
- 1960s counterculture
- African American founding fathers of the United States
- Eyes on the Prize
- In popular culture
- Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
- Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument
- Civil Rights Memorial
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- Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument
- Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument
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- King Center for Nonviolent Social Change
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historians
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