This work examines the segment of the American Civil Rights struggle from the late 1950's - mid 1960's. Central to the work is an exploration of the conflicting sentiments that are aroused by two anthems of the American South: "Dixie", by Daniel Decatur Emmett and "Lift Every Voice and Sing", by James Weldon Johnson. These anthems stood as bookends for many Americans, symbolizing the opposite poles of the struggle for equality. They still stir deep emotions, eliciting tremors of hatred and tears of compassion. They exhaust and confound many more of us, not least because there are those mornings we wake up realizing that the battle is not over.
