WE SHALL OVERCOME

We shall overcome, we’ll defeat the coronavirus!!!!! Come on!!!!!!

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WE SHALL OVERCOME

We shall overcome, we shall overcome.

We shall overcome some day .

Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe

we shall overcome some day .

We’ll walk hand in hand, we’ll walk hand in hand.

We’ll walk hand in hand some day .

Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe

we shall overcome some day .

The truth will make us free, the truth will make us free .

The truth will make us free some day.

Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe

 we shall overcome some day .

We are not afraid, we are not afraid.

We are not afraid today.

Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe

we shall overcome some day.

We shall overcome, we shall overcome .

We shall overcome some day .

Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe

we shall overcome some day.

 Choose the best answer for each question.

1. Why does the writer repeat the words in each part of the song?

a. to rhyme the sentences

b. to make the idea important

c. to match the music

d. to help people sing

2. Why does the writer keep saying some day?

a. to tell when it will happen

b. to rhyme all the lines

c. to show it is about the future

d. to show it is about today

3. What does “deep in my heart” mean in the song?

a. what I really feel

b. how I think

c. what I like

d. how people share 

4. What does “walk hand in hand” mean in the song?

a. walking down the street

b. a parade

c. people cooperating

d. making a trip 

 Write your own answer to this question. What is your favorite part of the song? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

 What does it mean to you? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

READING

This song, with its promise “We shall overcome some day,” probably dates back to antebellum days, when slaves sang phrases such as “I’ll be all right someday” as they worked in the fields. Much of their music had roots in African songs brought over during the brutal Middle Passage to the New World. The patterns of call-and-response and repetition provided a sense of community and participation in a hostile and forbidding world, as well as an outlet for ideas about freedom that could not otherwise be voiced.

I’m Not Moving

 On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks got on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama.  It was 6 P.M., and she was going home from work.  She took a seat in the back of the bus, behind a sign that said “colored.”1  Mrs. Parks sat in that section because it was the law:  In the southern part of the United States, white people sat in the front of the bus, and black people sat in the back.  Mrs. Parks was African American, so she had to sit in the back of the bus.  That evening, she sat in the first row of the “colored” section.

At each bus stop, more people got on the bus, and the “white” section filled up.  There were no more seats there, so a white man was standing.  The bus driver got up and moved the “colored” sign back one row.  He was making the “white” section bigger.

“You have to move so this man can sit down,” he told Mrs. Parks.

“I’m not moving,” Mrs. Parks said.

“If you don’t move, I’ll call the police,” the bus driver said.

“I’m not moving,” Mrs. Parks said again.

The police came and arrested Mrs. Parks.  When African Americans heard about Mrs. Parks’ arrest, they were angry.  They decided not to ride the buses in Montgomery.  There were 40,000 African American commuters in the city, and for more than a year, they did not ride the buses.  Some people had to walk miles to go to work.  During that year, the buses ran, but they had very few passengers.  The city lost a lot of money.

Sometimes African Americans ”marched” peacefully in the streets–they walked together in big groups.  They marched in Montgomery and in other cities in the South.

In 1956, the United States Supreme Court said that separate sections for blacks and whites on buses were illegal.  African Americans began to ride the buses again, but they didn’t stop marching.  They continued to march because they wanted more changes.  They didn’t want separate restaurants, hotels, hospitals, and schools.  They didn’t want separate restrooms and drinking fountains.  When they marched (and whites often marched with them), they sang.  “We shall overcome,” they sang:  We will succeed.  And they did succeed.

During the next ten years, blacks and whites began using the same buildings, restrooms, and drinking fountains.  All of these changes began when Rosa Parks said, “I’m not moving.”

1 Today we do not use the word “colored.” We use the word “black” or “African American.”

Answers:. Item 1 2 3 4 Answer b c a c