Os cantores Bob Dylan, Joan Baez , John Mellecamp, Freedom Singers entre outros participaram no dia 09 de fevereiro do Show ao vivo na Casa Branca: Uma celebração da música pela causa dos Direitos Civis. Após inflamado discurso de Obama sobre a importância do movimento pelos direitos civis, destacando a importância da música que mudou a história americana na famosa marcha à Washington em 1963, liderado pelo pastor Martin Luther King.
"It's hard to sing in times like that. But times like that are precisely when the power of song is most potent. Above the din of hatred; amidst the deafening silence of inaction; the hymns of the civil rights movement helped carry the cause of a people and advance the ideals of a nation. Bernice Johnson Reagon knew this. One day when she was young, she was sitting in church when a local sheriff and his deputies showed up to intimidate the congregation. "They stood at the door," Bernice wrote, "making sure everyone knew they were there. Then," she said; "a song began. And the song made sure that the sheriff and his deputies knew that we were there." Joan Baez and Bob Dylan knew this. One day in 1963, they joined hundreds of thousands on the National Mall and sang of a day when the time would come; when the winds would stop; when a ship would come in. They sang of a day when a righteous journey would reach its destination." Remarks by the President Obama at "In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement" (President Obama, 02/09/2010)
Joan Baez cantou o Hino do movimento civil "We Shall Overcome" e Bob Dylan sua majestosa composição "The Times They are a-Changing".