“Nigerian Drummer Babatunde Olatunji: A Silent Force Alongside Martin Luther King in the US Civil Rights Movement”
As Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington 57 years ago, drawing a crowd of around 250,000 attendees including notable figures such as James Baldwin, Harry Belafonte, and Sidney Poitier, an often overlooked presence stood in their midst – Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji. Originally from a Yoruba family in Lagos state, Olatunji’s path led him to Morehouse College in Atlanta in 1950 through a scholarship opportunity.
Olatunji became known for delivering a fiery speech advocating for social justice . He was a force , an activist at Southern United States with Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. where he joined him in the March on Washington.
Born April 7th 1927 in the village of Ajido, near Badagry, in the Lagos State of southwestern Nigeria, Babatunde Olatunji belonged to the Yoruba people and was exposed to traditional African music from a young age. After learning about the scholarship program offered by the Rotary International Club through Reader’s Digest, he applied and subsequently embarked on a journey to the United States in 1950.”
Master drummer, educator, and Pan-Africanist, Olatunji influenced everyone from John Coltrane to Spike Lee in the US where he made his home, whilst in Europe Serge Gainsbourg `borrowed’ Babatunde’s beats for his 1964 long-player Gainsbourg Percussions. Writing in his posthumously published autobiography, the percussionist explained the art of the drummer as; “a very special kind of trinity” comprising the spirit of the tree from which the drum is carved, the life force of the animal whose hide becomes a drum skin, and the spirit of the percussionist. Together these three amount to; “an irresistible force” and provide “a balance that gives the drum its healing power.
In his book The Beat of My Drum Babatunde recounted; “There was no school for drumming. Every child in the village is exposed to drums, dances, and sings… But I went beyond that, I would follow the drummers everywhere. They would go from market to market, from village to village, and I would follow.” Seeing her son’s passion Babatunde’s mother made him his first drum, a clay instrument known as an `apesin’, and his fate was sealed.
Babatunde Olatunji left an indelible mark on the US civil rights movement by forging connections between cultures and echoing the fervent calls for justice.
Olatunji’s widow, Iyafin Ammiebelle Olatunji, shared that he was often called upon to quell tensions within communities, including after the 1965 riots in Los Angeles’ Watts neighborhood. With a commitment to unifying Africans and African Americans, he was driven by his pan-Africanist perspective.
His role as Morehouse student body president provided him the opportunity to advocate along seminal figures of the early civil rights movement in the 1950s, notably Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Olatunji’s involvement was significantly inspired by the surge of anti-colonial resistance movements across Africa during that period. His attendance at the All African People’s Conference in Accra in 1958, convened by Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah, linked him with independence leaders and thinkers from around the continent.
This intellectual and social exchange between Africans and African Americans grew out of a shared context of race and struggle. Such interactions were particularly resonant as newly independent African states like Ghana and Nigeria became symbols of freedom and liberation. The impact was profound, with a lasting effect on the civil rights movement.
In the 1960s, both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were influenced by anti-colonial movements. King’s comparison of colonialism in Africa and American segregation highlighted their common aim of economic exploitation and political domination. Malcolm X, on the other hand, sought inspiration from the Mau Mau movement in Kenya and engaged African leaders to garner support for the African-American civil rights struggle.
Babatunde Olatunji played an instrumental role, uniting the philosophies of King and Malcolm X as a bridge between non-violent and more direct approaches. His passionate performances, often in partnership with organizations like the NAACP and King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, left a lasting impression.
His legacy lives on, continuing to inspire successive generations of activists, particularly those within the African diaspora. Olatunji’s ability to bridge continents and cultures, paralleled by his commitment to justice and unity, remains a timeless example. As contemporary movements like Black Lives Matter reignite the fight for justice, Olatunji’s spirit resonates as a beacon of hope and change, reminding us that the struggle he was part of 60 years ago continues to evolve and thrive today.
When he performed for the United Nations General Assembly, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev took off his shoes and danced. Later, he was one of the first foreign artists to perform in Prague, at the request of Václav Havel. On July 21, 1979, he participated in the Amandla Festival alongside Bob Marley, Dick Gregory, Patti LaBelle, Eddie Palmieri, and others.”
From these beginnings emerged an innovative percussionist, giving birth to 17 studio albums, including the influential debut “Drums of Passion” in 1959, which is celebrated for its role in introducing the West to the realm of “world music.” However, despite his profound musical influence, Olatunji’s involvement in civil rights remains hidden from the spotlight. Collaborator Robert Atkinson highlights the lack of recognition for Olatunji’s dedication to social activism, especially within the US civil rights movement, despite his pivotal role even before it gained mainstream momentum.
During his tenure at Morehouse, Olatunji defied misconceptions and stereotypes about Africa by presenting its music and cultural heritage. Through African music performances at social gatherings and drumming exhibitions at various churches across Atlanta, he subtly shifted perceptions. These actions not only nurtured a sense of pride among African Americans but also quietly sparked the early currents of the civil rights movement.
Olatunji’s confrontations with entrenched racial segregation fueled his activism. Recognizing the deep-seated nature of racism, he rallied fellow students against the discriminatory “Jim Crow” laws, leading to his own acts of resistance on public buses years before Rosa Parks ignited the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. In 1952, Olatunji organized a protest where he and fellow students adorned African attire, breaking racial boundaries, followed by a stand against segregation while dressed in Western clothing.
Undeterred by the risks of imprisonment, Olatunji and his companions persistently challenged the oppressive system. His resolute dedication during this period underscored their role in the “struggle for freedom” during the early 1950s. Beyond his musical legacy, Babatunde Olatunji’s enduring contributions as both a civil rights advocate and a cultural influencer continue to echo through time.
Olatunji’s efforts on behalf of African drumming included co-authoring Musical Instruments Of Africa: Their Nature, Use And Place In The Life Of A Deeply Musical People (1965). At a school on Long Island, he invited people to play on an array of percussion instruments. One participant was the young Mickey Hart, who became drummer with the Grateful Dead in 1967, and the Dead returned the compliment on new year’s eve 1985, by inviting Olatunji and two dozen members of his group to guest with them at Oakland, California.
Within the month, Hart had produced two Olatunji albums for Rykodisc – The Drums Of Passion: The Beat, and Drums Of Passion: The Invocation. Later, with Hart, the Brazilian vocalist Flora Purim, and a cast of transcontinental percussion maestros, Olatunji became a member of Planet Drum and, after their eponymous 1991 album won a Grammy, they toured, with Olatunji devising pre-concert rituals to focus their energies.
But he was not always in good health: he exited gracefully, although he appeared on subsequent Mickey Hart projects and released another album of his own, Love Drum Talk (1997). For several years, Olatunji also ran workshops on drumming as a spiritual tool at the Esalen Institute’s health and therapy centre near Big Sur, California, where he died.
Despite Olatunji’s enduring musical legacy, which includes a Grammy nomination and compositions for Broadway and Hollywood, his civil rights advocacy marked along Martin Luther King and Malcolm X .He was committed to social activism throughout his life,” says Robert Atkinson, who collaborated with Olatunji on his autobiography The Beat of My Drum, which was published in 2005, two years after his death.
The Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji, who died aged 75, played a key role in furthering the appreciation of African – and specifically Nigerian – music, polyrhythms and spirituality in jazz and world music. His influence was felt most in the US, his adopted homeland, and he affected musicians as diverse as drummers and percussionists Sikiru Adepoju, Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Max Roach and TH “Vikku” Vinayakram; guitarist Carlos Santana; pianist Horace Silver; and saxophonists Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane, who wrote the piece Tunji as a thank-you.
