We Shall Overcome - Arranged by Robert T. Gibson

Choral Arts Ensemble of Portland
Performed October 13, 2024 at Rose City Park United Methodist Church
This song is rightly associated with the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The lyrics for “We Shall Overcome” probably evolved from a 1901 gospel hymn by Charles Albert Tindley (1851-1933), a Methodist minister, while the tune may date back to one from the post-Civil War period, “No More Auction Block for Me.” The song emerged in its present form in a 1946 strike in South Carolina by a primarily black, female work force against the American Tobacco Company. By the 1950s, folksinger and activist Pete Seeger was including it at protests supporting both unions and civil rights. The song’s peaceful determination comes through in the choir’s steady repetition of the words “we shall” beneath the soloist in this soulful arrangement by Robert T. Gibson (b. 1989)