Abstract

"“A Jazz Salute to Freedom: Corporate Allyship and Extending the Reach of the Civil Rights Movement during the Early 1960s”"

Nicholas Gaffney, United States Naval Academy (ngaffney@usna.edu)

In 1963 Columbia Records, Roulette Records, and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) joined forces to produce and release A Jazz Salute to Freedom, and in doing so, they collectively worked to support and promote the public interest in racial equality. A Jazz Salute to Freedom was packaged as a two-disc album, and featured performances by thirty-one of the jazz world’s leading musicians and vocalists. Listeners could purchase the album for five dollars, and with part of the proceeds going into the treasury of the civil rights organization, could help finance the battle against racial segregation and discrimination. A Jazz Salute to Freedom was a fundraising success. The revenue the album generated over the course of its 1963-1964 sales campaign contributed to CORE’s positive cash flow during this period. More importantly, the process of advertising the album within the market for popular music created an invaluable opportunity for CORE to gain exposure to the legions of jazz fans within the United States and abroad. The record’s marketing collateral engaged fans in dialogue about the fight for racial equality, and the roles they might play within that struggle. A Jazz Salute to Freedom’s success in amplifying CORE’s reach and voice was rooted within a powerful example of civil rights era corporate allyship. By offering CORE access to resources, infrastructure, and professional expertise, Roulette and Columbia became collaborators in civil rights activism. The relationship between CORE, Roulette, and Columbia Records represents a unique historical example corporate allyship within the struggle for civil rights, an example that adds nuance and complexity to our historical understanding of the movement’s relationship with private enterprise.