media portfolio #6

MARCHING ‘’ROUND SELMA(Snippet)

Marching ‘round Selma like Jericho,
Jericho, Jericho
Marching ‘round Selma like Jericho
For segregation wall must fall
Look at people answering
To the Freedom Fighters call
Black, Brown and White American say
Segregation must fall
Good evening freedom’s fighters
Tell me where you’re bound
Tell me where you’re marching
“From Selma to Montgomery town

This reminds me of when we were discussing negro spirituals in class. The slaves sang these songs to make it through all the bad times. They were also code songs that were only understood by the slaves. The master's didn't understand what they were singing about so they let them sing with no punishment. Really people were singing about escaping and different meeting places.

In this song "Marching Round Selma like Jericho", most people would think it was just a regular song sang to lift up spirits. If you really look and analyze the song you can see different. In the Bible Jericho is a wall that they couldn't get over or defeat. Marching Round Selma like Jericho means marching round selma like the wall of Jericho. In the bible the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. It says in the song that "Segregation walls must fall" just like the walls of Jericho. At first glance you will think the song is just a song to up lift people's spirit's during segregation but it's so much more than that. It's a decleration that the people who lived through the pain and discrimination will make the segregation stop no matter what.

It's crazy to me how this song and songs like it means different things to different races of people. These songs were the only things that got some of those people out of the storm. My family from down south always says that music is a universal language because it means something different to everybody. It touches people in multiple ways.