The Rock Island Public Library presents Macomb singer-songwriter Chris Vallillo in a special online concert of Oh Freedom! Songs of the Civil Rights Movement at noon on Tuesday, November 10. The concert will be live streamed via Facebook Live on the Rock Island Library and Chris Vallillo Music Facebook pages.

The award-winning folk singer will perform pivotal songs that inspired and sustained this landmark movement. From “We Shall Overcome” to “This Little Light of Mine”, music played a vital role in the civil rights movement, both as inspirational rallying points and as a way of spreading the message of equality and justice. Intermixed with the music, Vallillo presents first-hand accounts of the historic struggle and discusses the impact of music to this important social cause. The show was originally created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the civil rights movement.

The presentation is free and open to anyone viewing via Facebook.

A different version of this program was originally planned earlier in the year as part of the Library’s Tuneful Tuesday series. Vallillo’s performance is funded by a gift from James and Carol Horstmann, with additional support from the Louise McCarty Memorial Fund.

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Sean Leary Director of Digital Media

Sean Leary is an author, director, artist, musician, producer and entrepreneur who has been writing professionally since debuting at age 11 in the pages of the Comics Buyers Guide. An honors graduate of the University of Southern California masters program, he has written over 50 books including the best-sellers The Arimathean, Every Number is Lucky to Someone and We Are All Characters.