Obama Says Music Fueled Civil Rights Movement
WASHINGTON — Crediting civil rights-era protest songs and their spiritual predecessors for his election, President Barack Obama on Tuesday sat in the East Room of his White House and listened to an all-star lineup of performers pay tribute to the music that he said fueled freedom marches and civil disobedience.
The nation's first black president transformed the grand ballroom into a concert hall packed with members of his Cabinet, Congress, civil rights leaders and students for a program that will air on public television later this week for Black History Month. Queen Latifah's rendition of the Marvin Gaye classic 'What's Going On' and Yolanda Adams' spirited rendition of Sam Cooke's 'A Change Is Gonna Come' were early highlights of a night that continued the Obamas' effort to open the White House to America's soundtrack.
