US THEATRICAL PUBLICITY INTERNATIONAL Area23a Richard Abramowitz t. 914.273.9545 e. [email protected] David Magdael and Associates David Magdael t. 213.624.7827 e. [email protected] Wild Bunch Vincent Maraval t: +33 1 53 01 50 21 e: [email protected] 42West Cynthia Swartz t. 212.277.7555 e. [email protected] SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION SYNOPSIS MUSICAL PERFORMANCES BY SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION tells the story of the American civil rights movement through its powerful music - the freedom songs protesters sang on picket lines, in mass meetings, in paddy wagons, and in jail cells as they fought for justice and equality. Anthony Hamilton and the Blind Boys of Alabama Angie Stone Joss Stone The Carlton Reese Memorial Unity Choir Mary Mary Wyclef Jean Richie Havens The Roots John Legend The film features new performances of the freedom songs by top artists, including John Legend, Joss Stone, Wyclef Jean, and The Roots; riveting archival footage; and interviews with civil rights foot soldiers and leaders, including Congressman John Lewis, Harry Belafonte, Julian Bond, and Ambassador Andrew Young. FILMMAKERS WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY The freedom songs evolved from slave chants, from the labor movement, and especially from the black church. The music enabled blacks to sing words they could not say, and it was crucial in helping the protesters as they faced down brutal aggression with dignity and non-violence. The infectious energy of the songs swept people up and empowered them to fight for their rights. SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION celebrates the vitality of this music. Directed by Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman (NANKING), and executive produced by Danny Glover, SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION is a vibrant blend of heart-wrenching interviews, dramatic images, and thrilling contemporary performances - a film of significance, energy, and power. Bill Guttentag Dan Sturman DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY Buddy Squires Jon Else Stephen Kazmierski EDITOR Jeffrey Doe MUSIC PRODUCER Corey Smyth EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY Danny Glover PRODUCERS Joslyn Barnes Jim Czarnecki Bill Guttentag Dylan Nelson Dan Sturman EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Jarrett Lilien Gina Harrell Mark E. Downie Marc Henry Johnson ORIGINAL MUSIC Philip Marshall CO-PRODUCER Beverly Oden ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS Agnes Varis William Douglass Peter Buffett Jennifer Buffett Mihal Arguetty Julia Mintz Lindsay Gillette Lauren McCauley HONORS ACADEMY AWARD® SHORTLIST INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY ASSOCIATION AWARDS FINALIST: IDA Music Documentary Award IDA Pare Lorentz Award IDA ABC/VideoSource Award WINNER, Vancouver International Film Festival ROGERS PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD WINNER, Chicago International Film Festival GOLD PLAQUE FOR DIRECTION WINNER, Morelia International Film Festival AUDIENCE AWARD NOMINEE, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam DOC U! AWARD FESTIVALS AND SCREENINGS Tribeca International Film Festival Festival de Cannes International Documentary Association’s DocuWeeks Traverse City Film Festival Vancouver International Film Festival Chicago International Film Festival Morelia International Film Festival Mill Valley Film Festival Reykjavik International Film Festival Heartland Film Festival Oakland Film Festival Mumbai International Film Festival In-Edit Barcelona Sheffield DocFest International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam Festival Dei Popoli Stockholm Film Festival Jakarta International Film Festival Palm Beach International Film Festival MUSIC ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES WYCLEF JEAN ANTHONY HAMILTON Wyclef Jean – solo artist, producer, and founding member of the Fugees – effortlessly crosses genres, generations and geographic boundaries as a musical goodwill ambassador. Wyclef exploded into a cultural phenomenon when The Fugees’ 1996 album, THE SCORE, reached the #1 slot on Billboard's Top 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums charts and earned two Grammys. THE SCORE went on to become the world's #1 top-selling hip-hop album of all time, selling more than 19 million copies globally. In 2007, Wyclef struck a major chord in mass pop consciousness with HIPS DON'T LIE, the charttopping Grammy-nominated international smash hit duet with Shakira. SWEETEST GIRL (DOLLAR BILL), the lead-in single off his album CARNIVAL VOL. II: MEMOIRS OF AN IMMIGRANT, charted in Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, India, Hong Kong, and the UK, as well as the United World Chart, and has sold more than two million digital copies worldwide. Anthony Hamilton is known throughout the R&B world for his rich, soul-steeped vocals. Hamilton’s career-molding break arrived when he sang the infectious hook on Nappy Roots’ PO’ FOLKS. That performance netted the singer his first of six Grammys. A year later his platinum-selling debut, COMIN' FROM WHERE I'M FROM, was released, followed by the gold-certified AIN'T NOBODY WORRYIN'. He is currently working on THE POINT OF IT ALL, to be released in December 2008. Hamilton made a recent cameo appearance in the Oscar®-nominated AMERICAN GANGSTER starring Denzel Washington and performed the soundtrack’s lead song, DO YOU FEEL ME. In addition to giving back through music, Hamilton participates in various national and local outreach initiatives including his own TASTE Foundation (Take a Step to Elevate). JOSS STONE From the moment Joss Stone emerged on the music scene at age 16, she has displayed a unique strength and intensity. Critics took immediate notice: Interview heralded her “gutsy voice, which can sting like aged bourbon or melt like strap molasses,” and the New York Post proclaimed Stone “unlike any singer of her generation.” Since her 2003 debut, THE SOUL SESSIONS, Joss Stone has sold more than ten million albums worldwide, won two BRIT Awards, and has been nominated for four Grammys, winning in 2007 for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Stone’s latest album, INTRODUCING JOSS STONE, released in March 2007, has achieved gold status by the RIAA. Stone made her acting debut in late 2006 in the fantasy adventure film ERAGON, and will make her television debut in the Showtime series THE TUDORS in 2009. THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA The Blind Boys of Alabama are recognized worldwide as living legends of gospel music. Celebrated by The National Endowment for the Arts with a Lifetime Achievement Award, inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and winners of four consecutive Grammy Awards, they have attained the highest levels of achievement in a career that spans over 60 years and shows no signs of diminishing. Formed at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in 1939, in the 1960s the group joined the Civil Rights Movement, performing at benefits for Dr. Martin Luther King. Their performances have been experienced by millions on The Tonight Show, Late Night with David Letterman, the Grammy Awards telecast, 60 Minutes, and on their own holiday PBS special. The Blind Boys’ performances are roofraising musical events that appeal to audiences of all cultures, as evidenced by an international itinerary that has taken them to virtually every continent. THE ROOTS The Roots are as fluid and amorphous as the hip-hop culture that spawned them, ever-shifting and everchanging. The Philadelphia-based band continually stakes out new territory in the precarious postmillennial environment of popular music. In the years since their debut album ORGANIX, the Roots have scored several Grammy nominations, including win in 1999 for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for YOU GOT ME, as well as a 2007 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Duo or Group. Group members appearing in SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION include MC Black Thought, Damon "Tuba Gooding Jr." Bryson (sousaphone) and drummer and bandleader ?uestlove. They are joined by members of the Brooklyn group TV on the Radio. The Roots rock the house with their famous live performances and released their eighth studio album, RISING DOWN, in 2008. THE CARLTON REESE MEMORIAL UNITY CHOIR The Carlton Reese Memorial Unity Choir was organized in Birmingham, Alabama, in the 1950s in order to support civil rights standard-bearer Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth’s Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. The choir provided inspiration, sustenance, and courage for civil rights protesters and leaders at countless mass meetings during the tumultuous Birmingham Movement, which ultimately led to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, one of the greatest victories of the American Civil Rights Movement. Nowadays, the choir – including a number of its original members – is still singing freedom songs from the 16th Street Baptist Church, where they also performed for SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION. MARY MARY ANGIE STONE Angie Stone is a certified-gold CD artist and a national and international star. A South Carolina native, Angie’s musical chops evolved from the gospel church into funk, rap, and hip-hop before her much-heralded 1999 solo debut album, BLACK DIAMOND, provided an exuberant return to classic soul. She brought a whole new energy and sensibility to the material, and a whole new spectrum of fans joined the Angie fan club when they heard her top 10 R&B hit NO MORE RAIN. BLACK DIAMOND was followed by BLACK DIAMOND MAHOGANY SOUL, STONE LOVE, and STONE HITS: THE VERY BEST OF ANGIE STONE. Her latest album, 2007'sTHE ART OF LOVE AND WAR- released on the newly reactivated Stax Records label - soared to number one on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Angie herself wrote most of the tracks, which showcase every nuance of her vocal range. Angie Stone is an artist in turn playful, powerful, and coy, and her voice permeates every corner of every note. Urban gospel superstars Mary Mary (sisters Erica and Tina Campbell) are often credited with broadening the fan base of urban contemporary gospel by introducing elements of soul music, hiphop, funk and jazz. The sisters have won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Gospel Album, two American Music Awards, and numerous Dove and Stellar Awards. Each of their studio albums - 2000's THANKFUL, 2002's INCREDIBLE, and 2005's MARY MARY - are either platinum or gold-certified. All of Mary Mary’s pursuits - musical, spiritual, or otherwise - are larger-than-life. “Our aim is to make music that the entire world, every age and nationality can relate to. We want people to be encouraged and uplifted when they listen to our music.” RICHIE HAVENS JOHN LEGEND Richie Havens has used his music to convey messages of brotherhood and personal freedom for over three decades. Gifted with one of the most recognizable voices in popular music, Havens’ soulful singing style remains as unique and ageless as when he first emerged from the Greenwich Village folk scene in the early 1960s. He has inspired his audiences with more than 25 albums and has performed everywhere from Woodstock in 1969 to the Clinton Presidential Inauguration in 1993, as well as on non-stop worldwide tours. For Havens, making music is a continuous journey, one that advances a step further with each album. “My albums are meant to be a chronological view of the times we've come through, what we've thought about, and what we've done to grow and change.” In 2003, The National Music Council awarded Richie Havens the American Eagle Award for his place as part of America's musical heritage. John Legend is known as one of the most compelling and important singer/songwriters of this generation, an elegant ambassador of soul. He began playing piano at the age of 4 and made a dramatic transition into solo artist fame with his debut album, GET LIFTED, which turned the singer into an overnight sensation. It sold more than three million copies and earned Legend a slew of awards including Grammys for Best New Artist, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B album. His critically acclaimed 2006 follow-up, ONCE AGAIN, not only cemented his status as a true artist's artist, but also secured his place in the soul music pantheon. Entering the Billboard Top 200 at #3, the album quickly went platinum and won Legend several more awards, including a Grammy Award. In 2007, John and his team launched the Show Me Campaign, whose mission is to fight poverty through fostering sustainable development. Legend has recently been honored with the 2008 Humanitarian Award from CARE and the 2008 Difference Award from OneXOne. FILMMAKER BIOGRAPHIES BILL GUTTENTAG (DIRECTOR/WRITER/PRODUCER) Bill Guttentag is a two-time Oscar-winning documentary and feature film writer-producerdirector. LIVE!, a dramatic feature he wrote and directed starring Eva Mendes, Andre Braugher, and David Krumholtz, was produced by Chuck Roven/Mosaic Media Group. The Weinstein Company is distributing the film domestically this year, and its international distribution includes Lionsgate. Along with Dan Sturman, Bill Guttentag also wrote and directed NANKING, a documentary which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. The film includes a stage reading they wrote that features Woody Harrelson, Mariel Hemingway, and Jürgen Prochnow. NANKING was released theatrically by THINKFilm. In 2003 Bill Guttentag won an Oscar® for the documentary TWIN TOWERS (Universal). It was his second Academy Award; the first was for YOU DON’T HAVE TO DIE, a film he made for HBO. He has also received three additional Oscar® nominations, and three Emmy Awards. His films have been selected for the Sundance Film Festival three times and have played and won awards at numerous American and international film festivals. His films have received a number of special screenings internationally and in the US, including at the White House. Bill Guttentag created and executive produced the NBC series CRIME & PUNISHMENT, which ran for three seasons (2002-2004). The series was part of the LAW & ORDER family of shows, and was created with Dick Wolf, who was also an executive producer. Over the series’ run, nearly every show was in the Nielsen top 20. His recent film NANKING won awards at a number of US and international film festivals (including Sundance). Guttentag and Sturman were nominated for a Writers Guild of America award for Nanking, and the film was short-listed for an Academy Award®. Nanking also won Peabody and Emmy Awards. It was released in China and became the highest grossing theatrical documentary in Chinese history. Guttentag has directed films for HBO, ABC, CBS and others. His films include MEMPHIS PD: WAR ON THE STREETS (HBO), Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award) and ASSASSINATED: THE LAST DAYS OF KENNEDY AND KING (TNT/CNN) on the final year in the lives of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. He also directed THE COCAINE WAR, an ABC News/Peter Jennings Reporting special on the drug war in South America. He has recently completed his first novel, BOULEVARD, which will be published by Pegasus Books/W.W. Norton later this year. Since 2001 he has been teaching a class on the film and television business at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. DAN STURMAN (DIRECTOR/WRITER/PRODUCER) Together with Bill Guttentag, DAN STURMAN wrote and directed the Sundance, Emmy, and Peabody award-winning documentary film NANKING, and produced the Academy Award®- winning documentary TWIN TOWERS. Between 2001 and 2003, Sturman produced three seasons of the NBC primetime series CRIME & PUNISHMENT. In addition to his documentary work, Sturman has worked extensively as a broadcast journalist, reporting and producing for ABC News, CBS News, and the BBC while based in Los Angeles; for Reuters and NBC News while based in London; and for ABC News 20/20 in New York. Sturman is currently in production on a feature documentary about aspiring child actors in Hollywood. DANNY GLOVER (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER) JOSLYN BARNES (PRODUCER) In addition to being one of the most acclaimed actors of our time, with a career spanning 30 years and including such films as PLACES IN THE HEART, THE COLOR PURPLE, the LETHAL WEAPON series and the award-winning TO SLEEP WITH ANGER, Danny Glover has also produced, executive produced and financed numerous projects for film, television and theatre. 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The recipient of countless awards for his humanitarian and advocacy efforts on behalf of economic and social justice causes, Glover is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from Amnesty International. ! !B!a!r!n!e!s! !h!a!s! !a!l!s!o! !s!e!r!v!e!d! !a!s! !a!n! !e!x!p!e!r!t! !c!o!n!s!u!l!t!a!n!t! !a!n!d! !p!r!o!g!r!a!m!m!e! !o!f!f!i!c!e!r! !a!t! t! !h!e! !U!n!i!t!e!d! !N!a!t!i!o!n!s!.! !S!h!e! !h!a!s! !l!i!v!e!d! !a!n!d! !t!r!a!v!e!ll!e!d! !w!i!d!e!l!y! !i!n! !A!f!r!i!c!a! a ! !n!d! !A!s!i!a!,! !a!n!d! !h!a!s! !w!r!i!t!t!e!n! n ! !u!m!e!r!o!u!s! !a!r!t!i!c!l!e!s! !c!o!v!e!r!i!n!g! !t!r!a!d!e! !a!n!d! !s!o!c!i!a!l! !d!e!v!e!l!o!p!m!e!n!t! !i!s!s!u!e!s!,! !a!s! !w!e!l!l! !a!s! !c!o!n!t!r!i!b!u!t!i!n!g! !t!o! !b!o!o!k!s! !o!n! !t!h!e! !e!s!t!a!b!li! !s!h!m!e!n!t! !o!f! !e!l!e!c!t!r!o!n!i!c! c ! !o!m!m!u!n!i!c!a!t!i!o!n!s! !i!n! !d!e!v!e!l!o!p!i!n!g! !c!o!u!n!t!r!i!e!s!,! !f!o!o!d! !s!e!c!u!r!i!t!y! !a!n!d! !p!r!o!d!u!c!t!i!o!n! !i!n! !A!f!r!i!c!a!,! !a!n!d! !s!t!r!a!t!e!gi! !c! !a!d!v!o!c!a!c!y! !f!o!r! !t!h!e! !i!n!c!l!u!s!i!o!n! !o!f! !g!e!n!d!e!r! !p!e!r!s!p!e!c!t!i!v!e!s! !o!n! !t!h!e! !i!n!t!e!r!n!a!t!i!o!n!a!l! !d!e!v!e!l!o!p!m!e!n!t! !a!g!e!n!d!a!. JIM CZARNECKI (PRODUCER) COREY SMYTH (MUSIC PRODUCER) Jim Czarnecki produced the groundbreaking documentary feature FAHRENHEIT 9/11, directed by Michael Moore, which won the Palme D’or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004. He won the International Documentary Association (IDA) Award and received a nomination for a NAACP Award for FAHRENHEIT 9/11 the same year. Smyth founded Blacksmith Management in 1991 during his years at Morehouse College. In 1996, he began managing De La Soul, and this opportunity led to the management of a young Brooklyn rapper named Mos Def. In 2006, the Czarnecki-produced TRUTH antismoking television commercial campaign won Best Campaign of the Year at the AICP Award Show at the Museum of Modern Art. He also produced BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE, which won the Oscar® for Best Documentary Feature, and produced the twice Emmy-nominated TV NATION. Czarnecki has produced music videos for U2, The Strokes, Lou Reed, Janet Jackson, Rage Against the Machine, Bruce Springsteen, Talking Heads, and Seal, among others. He recently consulted on the feature documentary THE DIXIE CHICKS: SHUT UP AND SING. DYLAN NELSON (PRODUCER) In addition to producing SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION, Dylan Nelson associate- and lineproduced the acclaimed feature documentary NANKING. She was nominated for an Emmy for her work on that film, which won Peabody and Emmy Awards and was short-listed for the Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature. NANKING premiered in competition at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically by ThinkFilm. Nelson’s narrative screenplays include THE WRONG BROTHERS, a finalist for the Chesterfield Writer’s Film Project in development with Pink Slip Pictures. Nelson is currently co-directing a documentary feature about child actors in Los Angeles, as well as a documentary about civil rights icon and iconoclast James Meredith. She lives in Los Angeles and teaches screenwriting, directing, and film studies at Colorado College. In 2003, Smyth co-founded Spitkicker, Inc., a social activist and artist collaborative that has since expanded into a website, newsletter, and syndicated radio show on XM Satellite Radio. That same year, he began work as the music director and talent booker for comedian Dave Chappelle’s new comedy series, CHAPPELLE’S SHOW, where he brought in musical acts including Common, John Legend, Kanye West and The Roots. His industry relationships and knowledge of good musical direction led to him and Chappelle producing the latter’s DAVE CHAPPELLE'S BLOCK PARTY, a documentary film of musical collaborations and performances released in March of 2006. In January of 2006, Smyth and Talib Kweli inked a deal with Warner Bros. Records to distribute, market, and promote for their label Blacksmith Music Corp. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND To understand the Civil Rights Movement, you first have to understand the injustice and degradation that blacks in the American South faced daily. Segregation, humiliation, fear, and racial violence were the norm for the first half of the twentieth century. SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION opens with rarely seen archival footage from a 1961 promotional film called THE MESSAGE FROM MISSISSIPPI. Officially produced for the racist Mississippi state government, the film seeks to normalize and justify the state policy of segregation. Featuring cheerful music and an enthusiastic narrator, THE MESSAGE FROM MISSISSIPPI set the stage for its audience: “Today, forty-five percent of the population of Mississippi is colored. This situation has brought problems, it has created challenges, but most important of all, it has inspired a social system to meet the challenge.” That system was segregation of the races, and it is graphically illustrated by images of segregated drinking fountains and “Whites Only” signs in movie theaters, bathrooms, restaurants, and other places of public accommodation. Looking back at his own experience growing up in Memphis, civil rights activist Samuel Billy Kyles now marvels at the absurdity of how things used to be: “I never understood why graveyards had to be segregated. Dead people get along well. They don’t bother each other, they don’t bother anybody else.” Segregation was enforced by brutality and fear, and any black who tried to challenge the status quo did so at the risk of jail or physical violence. Between 1882 and 1968, mobs lynched more than 4,000 people; whites who murdered blacks were rarely prosecuted, let alone convicted. But in 1955, for the first time, an entire community of blacks stood up and said, “Enough.” MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks famously sparked the Montgomery bus boycott when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. In response, for more than a year, the entire black population of Montgomery stayed off segregated city buses. The task of mobilizing the community and maintaining cohesion fell to a young and dynamic preacher - 26-year-old Martin Luther King, Jr. As fellow preacher Harold Middlebrook recalls: “Dr. King starts talking about, ‘You don’t need to wait for somebody else to bring you your blessing. You got to get off of the shore of comfort, self-satisfaction and complacency and you got to get out there. Wade in the water. Come in the water, come, come on, get in, struggle with the rest of us.” In nightly mass meetings, King spoke with passion and power, and the fired-up congregation punctuated his sermons with song. Lula Joe Williams remembers: “We’d be singing and clapping and going on. We were excited. These were people that were not afraid. They were standing up.” SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION features contemporary soul diva Angie Stone performing a memorable song from those meetings, the soulful, bluesy WADE IN THE WATER: Wade in the water, Wade in the water, children Wade in the water, God’s gonna trouble the water The song has been around since the days of slavery, and the coded lyrics encouraged the congregation to take risks - to wade in the water. For the first time, the entire black community of Montgomery had had enough; for the first time, the blacks of Montgomery, led by Martin Luther King, were willing to wade in the water. LUNCH COUNTER SIT-INS While the Montgomery Bus Boycott was led by preachers like Martin Luther King, it was college students who initiated lunch counter sit-ins throughout the South. In the face of brutal violence used freely by the police and segregationist mobs alike - the students embraced King’s example of nonviolent activism, using music to help bolster their courage. “The policeman can’t stop you from singing. He can put you in jail but he can’t stop you,” explains Samuel Billy Kyles. The images of this struggle still retain their power the young students and their supporters sitting with quiet fortitude as bigoted whites taunt them, douse them with ketchup and sugar, and punch the backs of their heads. Remembers protester John Lewis: “Someone would come up, and spit on us, or put a lighted cigarette out in our hair or down our backs, pour hot water on us, pull us off the lunch counter stools or beat us. But we kept coming back over and over again.” The music that inspired the students’ courage was now more upbeat than the typical church spirituals of their parents’ generation - the 60s had begun, and many on the front line were still teenagers. And so at their meetings, the students would create solidarity with catchy renditions of songs like WELCOME TABLE: I’m gonna sit at the Welcome Table I’m gonna sit at the welcome table one of these days, hallelujah I’m gonna sit at the welcome table Gonna sit at the welcome table one of these days I’m gonna sit at the Woolworth counter I’m gonna sit at the Woolworth counter one of these days, hallelujah I’m gonna sit at the Woolworth counter - and eat! Sit at the Woolworth counter one of these days As John Lewis explains, “It was the music that gave us the courage, the will, the drive, to go on in spite of it all. And when there was some concern about the possibility of violence, someone being beaten, someone being arrested and jailed - or even after we were thrown in jail - someone would sing a song.” FREEDOM RIDES A year after the sit-ins began, a group of non-violent activists entered unknown and dangerous territory with a new strategy to test Federal laws by riding through the South on two integrated Greyhound buses. The reaction was brutal - the riders on one bus were viciously beaten in Birmingham, and then again in Montgomery. The second bus was firebombed outside Anniston, Alabama. “I heard them holler, ‘Let’s burn them niggers alive! Let’s burn them alive!’” recalls Hank Thomas. “I remember coming out of that bank of smoke and a guy came up to me and said, ‘Boy, you all right?’ And I’m thinking, ‘Yes, yes, I’m okay.’ Almost, ‘Thank you for asking.’ And then he hit me with something.” In the wake of the violence, the racist governor of Alabama, John Patterson, gave a press conference to announce that he wasn’t prepared to protect the Freedom Riders from the brutality of his citizenry. “You just can’t guarantee the safety of a fool, and that’s what these folks are, just fools.” Finally arriving in Jackson, Mississippi - battered and bruised - the Freedom Riders were promptly arrested, convicted, and thrown in Mississippi’s notorious Parchman State Penitentiary. And even though the prison officials punished the Freedom Riders for singing - taking their mattresses and brutalizing them - the Riders kept singing. As one of the Freedom Riders, Bernard Lafayette, explains: “They can take away everything else except our songs, which meant that we kept our souls.” Paul and Silas bound in jail Had no money for to go their bail Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on Paul and Silas began to shout The jail doors opened and they walked right out Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION features multiplatinum artist Joss Stone performing EYES ON THE PRIZE, a song that was sung thousands of times in jail cells throughout the American South. BIRMINGHAM Two years after the Freedom Rides, Martin Luther King led the struggle for equality in Birmingham, Alabama. Newspapers and television stepped up their coverage of protests, focusing on Bull Connor, the notorious Birmingham chief of police whose use of dogs and fire hoses on peaceful black marchers including children - resulted in some of the most iconic images of the American Civil Rights Movement. In the words of John Seigenthaler, a Kennedy administration aide: “He made no bones about the fact that he’d break bones. When you have someone in a leadership position like that, it’s contagious. It’s like a virus that gets in to the bloodstream of the society, the community, and it spreads.” Facing up to Bull Connor’s brutal tactics was an energized and disciplined community of black activists who used the 16th Street Baptist Church as their headquarters. Before going out for daily demonstrations, protesters rallied around the highoctane music of song leader/organist Carlton Reese, who sounded like a cross between James Brown and Little Richard. Together with the sixty- voice Birmingham Movement Choir, Reese led the activists in songs like 99-AND-A-HALF WON’T DO: Oh Lord I’m runnin’ Runnin’ for freedom Ninety-nine-and-half won’t do Oh, Lord, I got to make a hundred I got to make it through Forty-five years later, the choir - now called the Carlton Reese Memorial Unity Choir in honor of their late director - is still singing freedom songs from the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION features song leader Mamie Brown-Mason leading the choir in a high- energy rendition of I’M ON MY WAY: I’m on my way, To freedom land Oh Lord, to freedom land Times have changed in Birmingham, and Bull Connor is now long gone. These days, the former Birmingham police chief, Annetta Nunn, actually sings in the choir. MARCH ON WASHINGTON By the end of the summer of 1963, the struggle for civil rights had gained tremendous momentum and was dominating America’s front pages. At the March on Washington, a crowd of 250,000 heard Martin Luther King, Jr. deliver his extraordinary “I Have a Dream” speech, which famously cited the words of “the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, I am free at last.’” Also appearing before the crowd that day was a lineup of committed musical artists, including Bob Dylan, Mahalia Jackson, and Odetta. The music coming from the podium was matched by the sound of 250,000 voices joined in song. A favorite of the moment was WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED, an uplifting, defiant song that originated in the labor movements of the 1930s: We are fighting for our freedom, we shall not be moved We are fighting for our freedom, we shall not be moved Just like a tree, planted by the water We shall not be moved In footage from the time, thousands - both black and white - can be seen singing this song. As Andrew Young, a close aide to Martin Luther King, recalls: “We could not have changed America without the March on Washington. It took a Southern black movement and made it a national, multiracial movement. There were almost as many white people there as there were black people. The March on Washington was the thing that defined the movement for America at large, and defined it for the world.” SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION features a contemporary version of WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED, as sung by the Grammy award-winning act Mary Mary, one of the most popular gospel groups performing today. MARTYRS A few weeks after the triumph of the March on Washington, the movement suffered one of its greatest tragedies. The Ku Klux Klan murdered four young girls with a bomb planted in the basement of a Birmingham church. This was but one incident among many in a tragic pattern of escalating violence. At moments of greatest discouragement, the civil rights community often turned to specific songs. Richie Havens, the legendary folk artist, performs one of these songs in the film, WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN: Will the circle be unbroken? By and by, Lord, by and by There's a better home a-waiting In the sky, Lord, in the sky As Samuel Billy Kyles remembers: “Most of us, I would think, did not sit down and say, “Oh my God, I might get killed.” We knew we were in it and that possibility was always there, but we didn’t dwell on it. We did not dwell on it.” MISSISSIPPI FREEDOM SUMMER The four little girls of Birmingham are among the most famous martyrs of the struggle. In fact, the worst violence and the most killings took place in Mississippi, a state that became notorious for its culture of brutal repression. As activist Chuck Neblett recalls: “The dangers of Mississippi was getting shot on the road, getting blown up in your house. We’ve found guys beaten half to death and tied to trees left out to die.” It was in Mississippi that Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner worked to help people register to vote in the summer of 1964. The three young men went out to investigate the burning of a black church. They were arrested and then released from jail in the middle of the night. Forty-four days later their bodies were found. The state refused to press charges, and the federal government stepped in, charging nineteen local men, including the sheriff and deputy sheriff. One hundred FBI agents spent the summer of 1964 searching for the bodies, dredging the swamps and rivers of Neshoba County, before the three civil rights workers were finally found. Along the way, the FBI found the bodies of other, unknown blacks who had been bound, mutilated, and drowned. It was the repressive culture of Mississippi that inspired Phil Ochs to write one of the most biting songs of the movement, HERE’S TO THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI. In his own, equally biting version of the song the film, multi-platinum singer Wyclef Jean spits out the ironic lyrics: Here's to the people of Mississippi Who say the folks up north they just don't understand And they tremble in their shadows at the thunder of the Klan The sweating of their souls can’t wash the blood from off their hands They smile and shrug their shoulders at the murder of a man Oh, here’s to the land you've torn out the heart of Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of The disappearance of the three civil rights workers cast a pall over the Mississippi Freedom Summer, a black voter registration drive that brought a thousand college students, most of them white, into the state. By August, 80 people had been beaten, hundreds had been arrested, and 67 churches, homes, and businesses had been burned or bombed. Like so many others, John Lewis says his resolve never wavered. “We didn’t give up. We didn’t give in. We didn’t become bitter. We didn’t become hostile. We kept the faith and we kept pushing.” BLOODY SUNDAY One of the seminal moments of the American Civil Rights Movement occurred in the spring of 1965, when civil rights workers tried to stage a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. On the way out of Selma, in front of network television cameras, state troopers brutally attacked the peaceful marchers. Lynda Lowery, who was only 14 years old at the time and who had to have 35 stitches, breaks down in tears as she describes being beaten with a billy club: “I was down on my knees and I felt something grab me on the back of my collar and they had a hand on my lapel. And they were pulling me backwards. I bit the hand that was on my lapel and I heard, ‘Nigger’ and I was hit twice over my eye.” The day became known as Bloody Sunday, and the national outcry drew thousands to Alabama to show their support for the cause of civil rights. Two weeks after Bloody Sunday, and after President Lyndon Johnson had to federalize the Alabama National Guard to protect the marchers, 3,000 people jubilantly crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge on their way to Montgomery. “Governor George Wallace said he had enough jails in Alabama to put everybody in jail,” recalls Chuck Neblett. “And we got on that bridge and looked back and just people, people, people. And he couldn’t put all those people in jail.” For four days and 50 miles, the marchers walked arm-in-arm and sang freedom songs. Some of the songs were made up on the spot, including GOVERNOR WALLACE, a rollicking doo wop song about Alabama’s famously racist governor: Don’t you worry About going to jail Cause Martin Luther King Will go your bail He’ll get you out Right on time Put you back On the picket line (chorus) Governor Wallace, you never can jail us all Governor Wallace, segregation’s bound to fall Like so many freedom songs, GOVERNOR WALLACE relies on infectious music and upbeat harmonizing to turn a deadly serious situation upside down, turning violence and oppression into a source of positive inspiration. Arriving in front of the state capitol in Montgomery, Martin Luther King delivered an impassioned speech to a wildly cheering crowd of 25,000: “They told us we wouldn’t get here. There were those who said that we would get here only over their dead bodies. All the world today knows that we are here and we are standing before the forces of power in the state of Alabama saying we ain’t gonna let nobody turn us around.” King was referring to one of the most popular freedom songs of all, AIN’T GONNA LET NOBODY TURN ME ‘ROUND, which became a rallying cry of defiance and determination for protesters. SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION features a thrilling new performance of this song by the Grammy Award-winning hip-hop group The Roots. Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around, Turn me around, Turn me around. Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around. Gonna keep on a-walkin’, Keep on a-talkin’, Marching on to freedom land The day before King’s triumphant Montgomery speech, the Justice Department had warned him of a credible assassination plot against him, but King refused to back down from his mission. “If a man has not discovered something that he will die for,” he would say, “he isn’t fit to live.” THE ASSASSINATION Martin Luther King had received countless death threats in his years of leadership. During the Montgomery Bus Boycott, he received a bomb threat, and true to the threat, his house was bombed - an act that came perilously close to killing his wife and daughter. Years later, he was attacked by a mob in Alabama and also stabbed in New York. Despite the danger to himself, his wife, and his young children, King clung tenaciously to the philosophy of non-violence. Five months after the bloodshed in Selma, King’s courage and sacrifice would pay off when Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In a speech before a joint session of Congress, Johnson used the musical language of the civil rights struggle, quoting from the song WE SHALL OVERCOME, which had become the anthem of the movement: “It is not just Negroes, but all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome.” Reverend C.T. Vivian, a deputy of Martin Luther King, recalls the moment: “And when he said, ‘We shall overcome,’ he took on our song. Man, that was like lightning. And there was a silent tear going down Martin’s cheek. That’s what he’d waited for. That’s what he’d hoped for. That’s what he’d been fighting for. To make the government affirm us.” The Voting Rights Act was a landmark, but the struggle for equality and justice was far from over. Dr. King acknowledged this on April 3rd, 1968 when he delivered his prophetic “Mountaintop” speech. “We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.” The following day, King was assassinated while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. More than 60,000 people showed up for King’s funeral - one of the most emotional days in modern American history. The footage from that day is extremely powerful, as are the recollections of those who knew King. And as King’s body was carried through the streets of Atlanta on a simple wooden cart, the mourners following him resolutely sang WOKE UP THIS MORNING with grim determination: Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on freedom Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on freedom Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu-jah! In tribute to King, SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION features John Legend, the multiplatinum soul superstar, singing his own heartwrenching version of WOKE UP THIS MORNING. The words speak of pain, but also of hope. Samuel Billy Kyles explains: “You can kill the dreamer, but you absolutely cannot kill the dream.” In fact, the fight for freedom and equality continues to this day. The film ends with the testimony of veterans of the Movement, who express pride in how much has been achieved, but also a conviction that the struggle is ongoing. In a final end credits medley, the voices of Joss Stone, John Legend, The Blind Boys of Alabama, and others combine to sing the inspirational anthem of the movement... We shall overcome We shall overcome We shall overcome some day Deep in my heart I do believe That we shall overcome some day
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