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THROUGHOUT MUSIC HISTORY, MUSIC HAS BEEN AN OUTLET FOR BLACK PEOPLE AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE STRUGGLE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS. WHEN IT COMES TO THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT. THAT STORY IS NO DIFFERENT. THE 13 MONTH MASS PROTEST ENDED WITH THE SUPREME COURT RULING THAT SEGREGATION ON PUBLIC BUSSES IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL, BUT IT TOOK A LOT OF SACRIFICES FOR BLACK ACTIVISTS TO REACH THAT RESULT. �������� AARON LEWELLYN SPENT A DAY IN ATLANTA SPEAKING WITH A WOMAN AT THE CENTER OF THE SOUNDTRACK FOR LIBERATION AND FREEDOM DURING THE BOYCOTT. IT’S THE SOUND OF THE MOVEMENT, CAUSE I WANT MY FREEDOM AND SINGING THE MELODY TO THE FIGHT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS WAS MARRIED JAMILA DOZIER JONES. JONES WAS ONLY EIGHT YEARS OLD WHEN SHE STARTED THE MONTGOMERY GOSPEL TRIO WITH MANY KENDRICKS, MCINTOSH AND GLADYS BURNETT CARTER AT ALABAMA STATE, WE WOULD HAVE WHAT WE CALL RECESS AND GO OUTSIDE, AND YOU COULD JUST ABOUT DO ANYTHING YOU WANTED TO DO, BUT MOST PEOPLE PLAYED SOFTBALL. THE GIRLS, SOMEHOW WE THREE GIRLS JUST WANTED TO GET SOMEWHERE AND SING SONGS. AS SHE SANG, SHE LEARNED FROM HER MENTOR, ROSA PARKS. WE WERE IN HER HOUSE EVERY SATURDAY LISTENING TO HER READ FROM THE NEWSLETTER THAT HAD COME FROM THE NAACP, AND WE WOULD SIT DOWN IN HER LIVING ROOM AND WE’D SING SOME SONGS. OF COURSE, IN DECEMBER 1955, WHEN THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT STARTED, THE CHILDREN FOUND THEMSELVES AT THE CENTER OF IT. WE WERE ACCUSTOMED TO SEEING THAT. AND SO IT JUST HAD US RIPENING FOR THE THE MOVEMENT OR THE BUS BOYCOTT AT THAT TIME, JONES SAYS. THE TRIO STARTED HOSTING COMMUNITY TALENT SHOWS WHERE THEIR VOICES DID MORE THAN JUST ENTERTAIN. WE STARTED TO RAISE MONEY FOR THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT THROUGH OUR SONGS, AND SO WE WOULD GO FROM ONE TEA TO THE OTHER SINGING THE SONG AND THEM RAISING MONEY. THAT MONEY HELPED BUY FOOD, PAY FOR TAXIS OR EVEN BUILD ACTIVISTS OUT OF JAIL. LATER, AT 13, JONES LEARNED THE TRUE IMPACT OF HER VOICE, A LESSON SHE NEVER FORGET AT A CIVIL RIGHTS TRAINING GROUND. AS STUDENTS WATCHED THE MOVIE, WHITE POLICE OFFICERS CAME IN TURNING THE LIGHTS OFF. GOODNESS, YOU COULD FEEL THE TENSION IN THAT PLACE. AND SOMEHOW IT CAME TO ME BECAUSE THERE IS WHERE WE LEARNED FOR THE FIRST TIME THE SONG WE SHALL OVERCOME. FACING HER FEAR, JONES SAYS SHE SANG THE FIRST WORDS THAT FILLED HER HEART. WE ARE NOT OF RAID. THE MAN CAME UP TO ME, I THINK, WITH A FLASHLIGHT OR SOMETHING, AND HE SAID, IF YOU GOT TO SING, DO YOU HAVE TO SING SO LOUD? I’M SAYING, HERE, THIS MAN TO MYSELF. GOT THE POWER OF THE LIGHTS AND TURN THEM OFF. THE POWER OF A GUN, BILLY CLUBS. HE GOT THE POWER. BUT THIS SONG I’M SINGING. MADE HIM ASK ME, NOT TELL ME. DO YOU HAVE TO SING SO LOUD? I TELL YOU THAT THAT WAS THE TIME I REALLY KNEW THE POWER OF OUR SONGS. SHE AND THE GOSPEL TRIO CONTINUED THEIR SOUNDTRACK FOR REVOLUTION DURING THE FREEDOM RIDES TO I AIN’T GONNA RIDE NO BUS NO MORE. WE WERE ABLE TO THAT AIN’T GONNA RIDE NO BUS NO MORE, AND ALL SAYING, Y’ALL CAN HAVE THAT BUS IF YOU WANT TO, BUT UNTIL YOU ALL CHANGE THE WAY YOU ARE TREATING US ABOUT THIS BUS, HEY WE WALKING. IF YOU MISS ME FROM THE BACK OF THE BUS AND YOU CAN’T FIND ME. NO WAY. JUST COME ON UP TO THE FRONT OF THE BUS. CAUSE I BE RIGHT UP THERE. AND EVEN THROUGH THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT OF 1963, IN BIRMINGHAM, NOW AT 80 YEARS OLD, JONES STILL PERFORMS, EVEN THOUGH THE TRIO IS NOW A DUO. BURNETT CARTER DIED IN 1996, BUT HENDRICKS, MCINTOSH AND JONES ARE STILL LIFTING THEIR VOICES TODAY. WE HAD GONE WITH OUR CAR, OF COURSE, TO PICK UP THE FREEDOM RIDERS, AND THESE ARE TWO OF THE FREEDOM RIDERS THAT GOT INTO THE CAR WITH US. JONES EVEN TEACHES IN ATLANTA, SHARING THE PAST TO MAKE A BETTER FUTURE. LOOK, IF YOU WANT TO REALLY KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR HISTORY, VISIT THE SONGS. NEVER LETTING HER LIGHT BE DIMMED I