- Sonny Rollins: - 1930 - present - saxophonist - 1958 album "Freedom Suite" commented on racism in America ("Emancipation Proclamation")
- Charles Mingus: - 1922 - 1979 - released "Fables of Faubus" in 1957 to counteract Jim Crow Laws - non-violent protest against segregation
- Max Roach: - 1924 - 2007 - drummer on Rollins' "Freedom Suite" - released "We Insist! The Freedom Now Suite" in 1960, which highlighted racism and African colonialism