Montgomery, AL

Ms. Rutha Harris, an original Freedom Singer shared her story about how she traveled to forty-six states and over 50,000 miles by bus singing as a Freedom Singer during the Civil Rights Movement. She was accompanied by Ms. Eartha Watkins today when we met them both. It was so interesting to hear their stories regarding utilizing music to express emotions or to rally people to join protests or even to participate in the movement. Hearing her sing today helped understand why music played such a significant role in the Civil Rights Movement. She explained that most of the songs they sang in the movement were gospel songs or popular songs people already knew, but they just changed the lyrics to express the message they want to convey. Hearing her sing today was empowering and you could hear how soulful the music was in just her voice. It was so moving to the group of us who attended, so I can only imagine the impact it had when empowering others during the Civil Rights Movement.

Hannah Kuruvilla

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