The civil rights protests that helped end legal segregation in the U.S. weren’t just a matter of sit-ins and marches. Music played an important and sometimes underrated role in stirring the participants, warming the hearts of onlookers and even casting doubt in the minds of at least some racists. Directed by Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman, the documentary Soundtrack for a Revolution explores the civil rights movement through music and includes contemporary performances of songs from the era and—more interestingly—archival footage of protesters singing in the face of hatred. Many of the activists confronted clubs and bayonets with song, turning a night in jail into a gospel revival.
Of course, Soundtrack for a Revolution (out Sept. 28 on DVD) doesn’t turn the freedom rides into a party. Several activists died, many were sent to hospital and many more barely escaped injuries. The cruelty of the system governing the South can be seen in the footage of police assaults, a 1960 propaganda film by the State of Mississippi extolling segregation and the memories of participants. “I felt so free,” says protestor John Lewis, now a member of Congress. He was always warned not to get into trouble but this was a good kind of trouble, a necessary trouble.
