Rutha Mae Harris, Freedom Singer, Reflects On '63 March: 'I Was Just Happy To Be In That Number'

Rutha Mae Harris' mother used to shush her because she sang so much.

"She said, 'Girl, you sing all the time," Harris said. "You sing in your sleep."

Harris, 72, never stopped singing, and it gained her a place on the stage of history.

Her rich soprano voice -- that voice -- became one of the sounds of the civil rights movement.

Woke up this morning with my mind

Stayed on freedom

Harris was one of the original four Freedom Singers of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee who traveled the country, performing mostly spiritually inspired songs at churches, rallies, college campuses and anywhere people in the movement were gathered. The others in the talented ensemble were Charles Neblett, Cordell Reagon and Bernice Johnson Reagon, who later founded the popular a capella group Sweet Honey in the Rock.

The Freedom Singers performed at the 1963 March on Washington. Harris and Neblett will sing later this month at George Washington University during a celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the march. She will also perform at an interfaith celebration Aug. 28 in Washington.

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Published: The Atlantic Journal-Constitution
Date: Aug. 17, 2013 Updated: Dec. 6, 2017