![]() ![]() In pop music today, performers flaunt their activism. – to picture a time of such insularity when musicians speaking out about social and political issues risked artistic and economic censure. It may be difficult for younger people – and people who have lived outside the U.S. In such a climate, what the Beatles did was remarkable. When the nightly news reported that the bodies of the three missing civil rights workers in Mississippi were found – one black, two white – I cried like a relative. Kennedy in November 1963 and enactment of the landmark Civil Rights Act in July 1964, I walked in a protest march and picketed a whites-only restaurant as angry white onlookers jeered. ![]() Dr Kitty Oliver today she says the Beatles have remained a soundtrack to her lifeīetween the assassination of President John F. ![]() Still, some of us risked rebellion, however fleeting that might be. Our churches warned us not to get involved in civil rights activities for fear of reprisal against our parents. Public accommodations were separate, inequities were rampant, and opportunities were stifled. As I point out in the film, when I went to see them play it was one of the first instances where I came into contact with whites previously my interaction had been limited to to the occasional insurance agent selling policies in the neighborhood. I was one of the few black fans at that September gig. One of the most interesting and lesser talked-about elements of this, explored in the film, is how the group refused to play my hometown’s Gator Bowl unless city officials relented on their stipulation that audiences should be racially segregated. A new documentary by director Ron Howard, Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years, chronicles the band’s explosive musical launch in America. and did their part to change a part of my world. This was the atmosphere the Beatles entered in 1964 when they “invaded” the U.S. The Beatles arrive in Jacksonville, where they said they would not play unless audiences were de-segregated ![]()
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