The month of February has started and with him the Black History Month. To celebrate the fight for civil rights, here is a special record selection of remarkable artists and their contribution to the cause.

Nina Simone

She wrote her first protest song in 1963. Reeling from the news of the murder of civil rights activist Medgar Evers and of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four young girls in Birmingham, Ala.

Ray Charles

He provided financial support to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and even refused to play for segregated concerts in 1961, after receiving a letter from Paine College's student president.

Billie Holiday

Holiday became the first African American woman to work with an all-white band. One of her most famous songs, “Strange Fruit” was based on a horrific and detailed account of a lynching in the South. Many scholars now consider it one of the first protest songs of the Civil Rights Movement.

Stevie Wonder

Wonder was a great supporter of the civil rights movement in the US through his music. He even led a campaign making MLK Jr birthday a holiday in the states. He wrote a song on the subject: “Happy Birthday”. The holiday was officially declared in 1983.

Ella Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald was a civil rights activist, using her talent to break racial barriers across the nation. She was awarded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Equal Justice Award and the American Black Achievement Award.