We Shall Overcome - Boston City Singers & University of Cape Town Choir

Boston ChoirFest 2025 - in partnership with the Cape Town Camerata

“We Shall Overcome” by Tindley, Seeger, Horton, Carawan
Performed by the Boston City Singers and the University of Cape Town Choir
Boston ChoirFest 2025

"We Shall Overcome" is an iconic protest song and the unofficial anthem of the American Civil Rights Movement. It has a long history, evolving from an early 20th-century gospel hymn to a global symbol of social justice and unity.

Origin and History
The song's roots can be traced back to an early gospel composition by Reverend Charles Albert Tindley called "I'll Overcome Someday," published in 1900. The melody bears resemblance to 18th-century European tunes and 19th-century spirituals sung by enslaved people.
The lyrics shifted from "I will" to "We will" during a 1945 labor strike by mostly Black, female tobacco workers in Charleston, South Carolina, emphasizing collective solidarity. The labor activist Lucille Simmons is credited with this change and slowing the tempo. The song was then introduced to the Highlander Folk School, a social justice training center, by Zilphia Horton, the school's music director.

Folk singer Pete Seeger learned the song at Highlander and is often credited with changing "We will" to the more singable "We shall" and popularizing it within the broader folk music community and the civil rights movement.

Role in the Civil Rights Movement
The song became an anthem during the 1950s and 1960s, offering courage and hope to protesters fighting for equal rights. Key moments included:
1957: Pete Seeger sang it at Highlander for an audience including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was deeply moved by the song.
1960: Guy Carawan, Seeger's successor at Highlander, taught the song to student activists at the founding meeting of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), who then spread it across the South.
1963: Joan Baez performed the song at the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
1965: President Lyndon B. Johnson notably used the phrase "we shall overcome" in a televised address to Congress while advocating for the Voting Rights Act.

Lyrics and Musical Style
"We Shall Overcome" is a simple, powerful folk/gospel song that is easy to learn and sing, making it ideal for group singing at protests and rallies. The standard first verse lyrics are:
We shall overcome, we shall overcome,
We shall overcome someday;
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe,
We shall overcome someday.
Other common verses include "We'll walk hand in hand," "We are not afraid," and "We shall live in peace".

Modern Status
The song has been translated and used in protest movements for freedom and justice worldwide, from South Africa to India and China. In 2018, following a legal challenge, the core lyrics and melody of the well-known version of the song were declared to be in the public domain.

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