Influential Writers and
Entertainers of the Movement

     Entertainers of the Civil Rights Movement, and of other eras, have always had an influence  on society. Songs reached people when they were performed by inspiring singers of the time. Writers opened the minds of readers in similar ways; they were inspirational as well.

    During the Civil Rights Movement, popular artists included Sam Cooke and writer James Baldwin. Sam Cooke was a dominant musician of soul and funk music in the 60's, and moved black music into the mainstream. He was an activist and expressed the black artist's struggle to control his own destiny. Mr. Baldwin  brought a new light to writing, especially to the white community, as Baldwin's work was widely accepted and read there. His ideas demonstrated the black community's awareness of the repressive situation.

    Other entertainers of the Movement also included Ralph Ellison, trumpet player and writer. In an interview with Mike McGrady of Newsday one day in October of 1967 Mr. Ellison said about writing and entertaining, "At first I was puzzled when I began to read Ernest Hemingway . . . as to just why his stories could move me but I couldn’t reduce them to a logical system. . . . “Then I began to look at my own life through the lives of fictional characters. When I read Stendhal, I would search within the Negro communities in which I grew up. I began, in other words, quite early to connect the worlds projected in literature and poetry and drama and novels with the life in which I found myself.”

    Bo Diddly, famous rock n roll, and blues musician, has made an influence on other musicians both black and white. "I'm due a little credit for being first...I was the very first one to start to change the sound of electric guitar into what is now known as rock and roll..." said Mr. Diddly referring to the amazing sounds of his custom-built electric guitar. 

    Other writers include Richard Wright, considered the most important Afro-American writer of the 50's and 60's. He was known for his artistic excellence and outspoken opinions on racial issues shown through a collection of his essays, one being "White Man, Listen!" He also wrote poetry and other nonfiction essays. 

     Writers and entertainers of the late 50's and early 60's, and all throughout history, have always had an influence in society. With writers like James Baldwin, and Ralph Ellison, and entertainers like Bo Diddly and Sam Cooke, the minds of citizens have been molded through their examples.

By Candace Miller