used the phrase in his last speech before assassination. Lyndon Johnson used the phrase in his address of Congress on Maafter attacks on Civil Rights activists. Another folk singer, Joan Baez, helped bring the song to a wider audience through her participation in marches and most importantly the 1969 Woodstock festival (The same Joan Baez whose rendition of Blowin’ In The Wind features in Forrest Gump). Subsequently the song was taken up as the anthem of the Civil Rights Movement. Pete claims to have changed the lyric from We Will to We Shall, and also added some other verses. From here it passed on to folk singer Pete Seeger, famous as founder of The Almanac Singers and later The Weavers. A more recent development of the song began in 1946 when Lucille Simmons, on strike against the American Tobacco Company, sang a slow version of We Will Overcome on a picket line. Charles Tindley of Philadelphia, a man credited to composing over 50 hymns and lyrics. Originating from the gospel traditions of both blacks and whites in the late 1800s, the first appearance of We Will Overcome in print was in 1901 and is attributed to Rev. As is the case with most folk songs, the origins of this song are also majorly murky. We start off with a song that is famous as the face of the US Civil Rights Movement, We Shall Overcome.
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