In the early 1960s, she faced armed police as she sang at demonstrations across the US. The voice of the civil rights movement reflects on Martin Luther King, Donald Trump, racism and resilience
Rutha Mae Harris has never been afraid to sing in front of a crowd. Even as a 22-year-old facing the 250,000 people who had gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in August 1963 for the historic march on Washington, she felt excited rather than scared. After all, at earlier protests, she had faced police pointing batons, fire hoses and even guns, and each time, when she sang, her terror faded away.
That day, when she began to sing, her voice flew out across the march as she belted out the opening words: “We shall not …” Immediately, the other Freedom Singers, as her group were known, joined in for their rendition of We Shall Not Be Moved. Footage of the day shows Harris in her element, looking ahead, determined, as the crowd clap along and burst into applause at the end.
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