How Significant Was Popular Media In The Civil Rights Movement Essay
How significant was popular media in the progression of African-American Civil Rights from 1830-1969?
Jimi Hendrix stated that 'music doesn 't lie - if there is something to be changed in this world then it can only happen through music ’1 and perhaps this attitude towards music is the starting point for my argument on the impact it had on the Civil Rights Movement. Billy Joel called it 'an explosive expression of humanity, '2 whilst Beethoven stated it to have 'higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy '.3 Whatever the belief, music has always been known for its profound ability to affect human beings. Whether that is to cause emotions of happiness or of sorrow, to motivate them, to allow them understanding of one another, music …show more content…
In 1947 the radio remained one of the most popular sources of mass media across America. During this era, a man named Stetson Kennedy (nephew of a Klansman) waged a personal war on the Ku Klux Klan. Kennedy collaborated with a man code-named John Brown and through this collaboration, the two could discover the inner activities of the Klan itself. Kennedy began feeding Klan reports to the journalist Drew Pearson, whose Washington Merry-Go-Round programme was heard by millions of adults every day. 39 As the radio show played on, attendance at Klan meetings began to fall, as did applications for new membership.40 Kennedy had turned the secrecy of the Klan against itself by making its private information public; one source claiming 'turning heretofore precious knowledge into ammunition for mockery. ' 41 This manipulation of the purpose of radio allowed a small collaboration to have a phenomenal impact on such a large organisation. Popular culture was, in this case, used to change mass opinion of an organisation, it harnessed its power of wide audiences and popularity to manipulate public opinion on a heretofore eminent
Jimi Hendrix stated that 'music doesn 't lie - if there is something to be changed in this world then it can only happen through music ’1 and perhaps this attitude towards music is the starting point for my argument on the impact it had on the Civil Rights Movement. Billy Joel called it 'an explosive expression of humanity, '2 whilst Beethoven stated it to have 'higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy '.3 Whatever the belief, music has always been known for its profound ability to affect human beings. Whether that is to cause emotions of happiness or of sorrow, to motivate them, to allow them understanding of one another, music …show more content…
In 1947 the radio remained one of the most popular sources of mass media across America. During this era, a man named Stetson Kennedy (nephew of a Klansman) waged a personal war on the Ku Klux Klan. Kennedy collaborated with a man code-named John Brown and through this collaboration, the two could discover the inner activities of the Klan itself. Kennedy began feeding Klan reports to the journalist Drew Pearson, whose Washington Merry-Go-Round programme was heard by millions of adults every day. 39 As the radio show played on, attendance at Klan meetings began to fall, as did applications for new membership.40 Kennedy had turned the secrecy of the Klan against itself by making its private information public; one source claiming 'turning heretofore precious knowledge into ammunition for mockery. ' 41 This manipulation of the purpose of radio allowed a small collaboration to have a phenomenal impact on such a large organisation. Popular culture was, in this case, used to change mass opinion of an organisation, it harnessed its power of wide audiences and popularity to manipulate public opinion on a heretofore eminent