'This Little Light Of Mine' Shines On, A Timeless Tool Of Resistance
Ask Freedom Singer Rutha Mae Harris, and she'll tell you plainly: You can't just sing "This Little Light of Mine." You gotta shout it:
"Everywhere I go, Lord, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!"
On a Monday morning, Harris' powerful voice fills the small church right next to the Albany Civil Rights Institute in Georgia. She's showing them how she and her fellow Freedom Singers — a renowned quartet that raised money for student activists during the civil rights movement — belted out songs to get through dangerous protests.
A muscular version of "This Little Light of Mine" is the emotional high point of Harris' presentation: a unifying affirmation that gives the crowd a taste of that feeling from the 1960s. She says the song helped steady protestors' nerves as abusive police officers threatened to beat them or worse.
"Music was an anchor. It kept
