Question

What legendary gospel singer sang just prior to Dr. Martin Luther King junior's "I have a dream speech" during the march on Washington?

Answer 1

Hint: It was a day where the civil rights movement mingled with folk songs and gospel in front of a nationwide audience . There were not only the quarter-million who gathered to hear King preach about work equality and voting rights, but there were millions more who watched on television and listened the iconic singer on radio.

Complete answer:
- Mahalia Jackson led America to church. Sister Mahalia reminded the 250,000 people laid out in front of the Lincoln Memorial of the long journey they had travelled minutes before her friend Martin Luther King Jr. declared “I have a dream” to cap the March on Washington DC on August 28, 1963.
- She sang, "You know my soul looks back in wonder, how I got over," thanking the gods for helping her people to survive this long. Their struggle, though, was far from over.
- The singer closed her eyes and rhapsodised as a Hammond organ simmered and rhythmic handclapping broke out. As she worked church doorways and reached into pews to clasp hands and baptise foreheads in the past, the gospel classic How I Got Over had encouraged her to let loose for 10, even 15 minutes at a time.
- She did record several versions of the tune, but they paled in comparison to the heights she could achieve in front of an audience. It was Holy Ghost time again in the minutes before King was to talk – the sort of show where Jackson surrendered not just her voice but her whole body to the moment, leaning and spinning her massive frame as she reached for the notes.

Note: Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Odetta, the Freedom Singers, and Marian Anderson had all sung, but it was Jackson who stole the show with a song that struck a chord with African-Americans. She had a great impact on the audience.