The history of the 1954 to 1968 American civil rights movement has been depicted and documented in film, song, theater, television, and the visual arts. These presentations add to and maintain cultural awareness and understanding of the goals, tactics, and accomplishments of the people who organized and participated in this nonviolent movement.
Film Documentaries Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (1963), first-hand journalistic reporting of the University of Alabama "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" integration crisis of June 1963. Nine from Little Rock (1964), about the Little Rock Nine who enrolled in an all-white Arkansas high school in 1957. The March (1964), about the 1963 March on Washington, was made for the United States Information Agency. Louisiana Diary (1964) follows the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) from July to August 1963, as they undertake an African American voter registration drive in Plaquemine, Louisiana. Cicero March (1966), details a civil rights march held by the Congress of Racial Equality on September 4, 1966, in Cicero, Illinois, soon after the 1966 Chicago open housing movement ended. King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970) Malcolm X (1972), based on The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Freedom on My Mind (1994), documents efforts to register African-American voters in Mississippi, Freedom Summer, and the formation of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. A Time for Justice (1994), a short history of the civil rights movement narrated by Julian Bond. 4 Little Girls (1997), focusing on the 1963 events surrounding the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church just after the Birmingham campaign. Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks (2002), created with archival footage February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four (2003), documents the 1960 Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins and the four college students involved. The Murder of Emmett Till (2003) about the murder and the impact of Emmett Till's open-casket funeral. Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin (2003), about the life of civil rights organizer Bayard Rustin. Home of the Brave (2004), documents the life and murder of Viola Liuzzo which occurred just after her participation in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march. Mighty Times: The Children's March (2004) about the 1963 Birmingham campaign and its Children's Crusade marches by schoolchildren. Dare Not Walk Alone (2006) focuses on the 1964 St. Augustine movement. Mississippi Cold Case (2007), chronicles the Ku Klux Klan murders of two young black men in Mississippi in 1964 during Freedom Summer, and the 21st-century quest for justice by the brother of one of those murdered. Colored Frames (2007), art within the civil rights movement. The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306 (2008), details the events surrounding the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Neshoba (2008), chronicles the events and thinking in Neshoba County, Mississippi, 40 years after the 1964 murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner. Soundtrack for a Revolution (2009), focuses on some of the songs sung during the civil rights movement. Crossing in St. Augustine (2010), produced by Andrew Young, who participated in the civil rights movement in St. Augustine in 1964. The Barber of Birmingham (2011), about James Armstrong, a voting rights activist and an original flag bearer for the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches. Julian Bond: Reflections from the Frontlines of the Civil Rights Movement (2012), on the life and thoughts of activist Julian Bond. The March (2013), documents the 1963 March on Washington and the "I Have a Dream" speech by King. Freedom Summer (2014), documents the events of the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer movement. In the Hour of Chaos (2016), film about Martin Luther King Sr. I Am Not Your Negro (2016), James Baldwin's reminiscences of civil rights movement participants. King in the Wilderness (2018), focuses on the last two years of Dr. King's life. John Lewis: Good Trouble (2020), on the life of activist, SNCC leader, and congressman John Lewis. MLK/FBI (2020), an account of the FBI's investigation and harassment of Martin Luther King Jr.
Dramatizations Mississippi Burning (1988), about the 1964 murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner in Mississippi. Hairspray (1988, 2007 remake), features a major subplot about civil rights movement era demonstrations against racial segregation in Baltimore, Maryland. The Long Walk Home (1990), portrays a woman who is boycotting city buses during the 1955-1956 Montgomery bus boycott. Malcolm X (1992), a biopic focused on the life and assassination of Malcolm X. Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), an account of the assassination of Mississippi activist Medgar Evers and the subsequent investigation. Ruby Bridges (1998), is based on the true story of Ruby Bridges, a six-year-old girl who integrated William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1960. Selma, Lord, Selma (1999), follows the life of 11-year-old Sheyann Webb during the events leading up to the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march and its "Bloody Sunday". Our Friend, Martin (1999), fictionalized animated time-travel film which depicts Martin Luther King Jr. at several key points during the civil rights movement. Boycott (2001), depicts some of the events of the 1955-56 Montgomery bus boycott. The Rosa Parks Story (2002), the life of the key figure in the Montgomery bus boycott. The Butler (2013), a scene depicts a civil rights movement training session conducted during the Nashville Student Movement by James Lawson and other civil rights movement events. Selma (2014), focusing on the events leading up to, during, and after the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, including the 1965 Voting Rights Act. All the Way (2016), focusing on Lyndon B. Johnson's successful attempt to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964. An American Girl Story – Melody 1963: Love Has to Win (2016), depicts the racism faced by a young fictional character in her home town of Detroit during the events leading up to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, the film honors the four children killed in the bombing during the end credits. My Nephew Emmett (2017), about the 1955 murder of Emmett Till Son of the South (2020), focuses on the life of SNCC activist Bob Zellner. Till (2022), based on the true story of Mamie Till-Bradley, an educator and activist who pursued justice after the murder of her 14-year-old son Emmett. Rustin (2023), film about movement leader Bayard Rustin and the 1963 March on Washington.
Television Summer in Mississippi (1965), a Canadian documentary short Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (1975) two-part television movie dramatizing the events following the 1964 disappearance and murder of three civil rights workers in Mississippi. King (1978 miniseries) about Southern Christian Leadership Conference chairman and movement spokesman, Martin Luther King Jr. Crisis at Central High (1981), made-for-television movie about the Little Rock Integration Crisis of 1957. For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story (1983), PBS biopic about assassinated Mississippi civil rights activist Medgar Evers, his work, and his family. Eyes on the Prize (1987–1990), a 14-hour documentary series chronicling the civil rights movement. My Past Is My Own (1989), a portrayal of students organizing an early 1960s civil rights movement sit-in. Murder in Mississippi (1990) movie following the last weeks of three civil rights workers, Michael "Mickey" Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney, and the events leading up to their disappearance and subsequent murder during Freedom Summer. Separate But Equal (1991), depicts the landmark Supreme Court desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education, based on the phrase "Separate but equal". The Ernest Green Story (1993), film chronicling the true story of Ernest Green (Morris Chestnut) and eight other high-school students (dubbed the "Little Rock Nine") and the 1957 integration of Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. George Wallace (1997), a film about George Wallace, the Alabama governor, and his involvement in many of the events of the era including the 1963 "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door". Ruby Bridges (1998), the true story of six-year-old Ruby Bridges who, in 1960, became the first black student to integrate an elementary school in the South. Any Day Now (1998–2002), series with a major subplot involving the Birmingham campaign. Freedom Song (2000), a film based on true stories of the civil rights movement in Mississippi, involving voting rights, Freedom Summer, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Sins of the Father (2002) chronicles the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, in which four young African American girls were killed while attending Sunday school. Alpha Man: The Brotherhood of MLK (2011), BET documentary details Martin Luther King Jr.'s college years and fraternity. Freedom Riders (2011), a PBS film marking the 50th anniversary of the first Freedom Ride in May, 1961. Betty & Coretta (2013), a film focused on Betty Shabazz and Coretta Scott King. Hairspray Live! (2016), a presentation of the John Waters musical about a fictional Baltimore desegregation of a television dance program. Rosa (Doctor Who) (2018), an episode of the popular science-fiction series depicts Rosa Parks and her 1955 sit-in which began the Montgomery bus boycott. The Umbrella Academy (2020), a time-travel science-fiction series, set its second season in 1963 and depicted organizing meetings and a diner sit-in in the season's third episode. Women of the Movement (2022), six-episode series about Mamie Till and her son Emmett.
Music Sung during the civil rights movement "We Shall Overcome", gospel-based song that became an anthem for the civil rights movement. "Kum ba yah" ("Come by here"), an African American spiritual song of disputed origin sung during the movement. "We Shall Not Be Moved", spiritual-based song often sung during the civil rights movement. "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize", sung during the Movement actions, based on the traditional folk song "Gospel Plow". "Oh, Freedom", a post-Civil War African-American freedom song, popular during the Civil Rights Movement. "This Little Light of Mine", originally a hymn, the lyrics were modified as it became a movement anthem. "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round", movement song adapted from a spiritual. "If You Miss Me at the Back of the Bus" by Charles Neblett, a founder and member of The Freedom Singers "Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind Stayed On Freedom)", gospel based 1961 revamp by Robert Wesby, composed during the Freedom Rides.
About the civil rights movement "Fables of Faubus" (1957), Charles Mingus's jazz composition written and performed in response to the Little Rock Nine incident "The Death of Emmett Till" (1962), one of several songs Bob Dylan paid tribute to civil rights; this one a reference to the Murder of Emmett Till "Oxford Town" (1962), written and sung by Bob Dylan, pertains to James Meredith's enrollment at the University of Mississippi. "Alabama" (1963), John Coltrane's jazz composition response to a 1963 church bombing that killed four young girls. "A Change Is Gonna Come" (1964), written and sung by Sam Cooke, became an anthem for the civil rights movement. "Birmingham Sunday" (1964), Richard Fariña's response to the Birmingham church bombing recorded by Joan Baez, Fariña's sister-in-law, on her 1964 album Joan Baez/5. "Mississippi Goddamn" (1964), Nina Simone's response to the murder of Medgar Evers. "Only a Pawn in Their Game" (1964), Bob Dylan's response to the murder of Medgar Evers, which he sang at the 1963 March on Washington "Keep on Pushing" (1964), rhythm and blues hit single by The Impressions.