Having Been born over 50 years ago in {South GA} on one cold January morning - just like in the great southern song " Dixie " - I have heard many Negro Spirituals all my life...
Most of them are very descriptive and uplifting about life upon this earth! {But not just for Blacks - because all of us share this planet and life here!} These songs formed part of the Southern US culture and transcend the recent " race provocations " because they were about people and our dealing with life's problems...
They were not just some racial thing but actually part of the fabric of the United States of America...
Here are some I remember and have sang often:
--------------------------------------
" Oh happy day "
" Swing low sweet chariot "
" Were you there when they crucified my Lord?'
“We Shall Overcome”
“This Little Light of Mine”
Almost all the first Africans who arrived in the New World were slaves. They
generally came from several regions of the African West Coast.
Their ways of living were described by slaves themselves, in some
narratives.
They had to work either in
plantations
or in town.
**
Historical note: Of course almost a majority of the southern people{except for the Indians} worked either in towns or on farm and plantations...
Slavery
was an important issue facing Churches, as many slaves were allowed to
meet for Christian services. Some Christian ministers, such as
J.
D. Long, wrote against slavery.
Rural
slaves used to stay after the regular worship services, in churches
or in plantation “praise houses”, for singing and dancing. But, some
slaveholders did not allow dancing and playing drums, as usual in
Africa. Therefore some had meetings at secret places (“camp meetings”,
“bush meetings”), because they needed to meet one another and share
their joys, pains and hopes.
In rural meetings, thousands slaves
were gathered and listened to itinerant preachers, and sang spirituals,
for hours. In the late 1700s, they sang the precursors of spirituals,
which were called
“corn ditties”.
So,
in rural areas, spirituals were sung, mainly outside of churches.
In cities, about 1850, the Protestant City-Revival Movement created
a new song genre {Southern Gospel}, which was popular; for revival meetings organized
by this movement, temporary tents were erected in stadiums, where
the attendants could sing.
At
church, hymns and psalms were sung during services.
Some of them
were transformed into songs of a typical African American form:
they are "Dr Watts”.
The
lyrics of negro spirituals were tightly linked with the lives of
their authors: slaves.
While work songs dealt only with their daily
life, spirituals were inspired by the message of Jesus Christ and
his Good News (Gospel) of the Bible,
“You can be saved”.
They are
different from hymns and psalms, because they were a way of sharing
the conditions of being a slave.
Between
1865 and 1925
Slavery
was abolished for Negroes in 1865. Yet still existed for American Indians in the western U.S. territories until 1912; when statehood removed it in New Mexico and Arizona. Both young Indian men and women were sold and traded with the consent of the US Army in the territories...
Some Negroes were allowed to go to
school and graduate. At Fisk University, one of the first universities
for Blacks in Nashville (Tennessee), some educators decided to
raise funds for supporting their institution. So, some educators and students
made tours in both the New World and in Europe, and sang negro spirituals (
Fisk
Jubilee Singers).
Other Black universities had also singers of negro
spirituals: Tuskegee Institute, etc.
Just
after 1865, many of Negroes did not want to remember the songs
they sung in hard days of slavery. Even when ordinary people
sang negro spirituals, they were not proud to do so.
In
the 1890s, Holiness and Sanctified churches appeared, of which was the
Church of God in Christ. In these churches, the influence of African traditions
was in evidence.
These churches were heirs to shouts, hand clapping, foot-stomping
and jubilee songs, like it was in plantation “praise houses”.
At
the same time, some composers arranged negro spirituals in a new way,
which was similar to the European classical music.
Some artists, mainly
choruses, went abroad (in Europe and Africa) and sang negro spirituals.
At the same time, ministers like Charles A. Tindley, in Philadelphia,
and their churches sang exciting church songs that they copyrighted.
Between 1925 and 1985
In
the 1920s, the Black Renaissance was an artist movement concerning poetry
and music. “It was an evidence of a renewed race-spirit that consciously
and proudly sets itself apart”, explained Alan Locke.
So, the use of dialect
was taboo, in this movement. The “race-spirit” infused the work of musicians
and writers like Langston Hughes.
For the first time, Blacks realized that their roots ran very deep in the land of their birth {USA}.
The
Black Renaissance had some influence on the way of singing and interpreting
negro spirituals. First, the historical meaning of these songs were put
forward. Then, singers were pushed to be more educated.
For
example, in early Twentieth century, boys used to sing negro spirituals
in schoolyards. Their way of singing was not sophisticated. But educators
thought that negro spirituals are musical pieces, which must be interpreted
as such.
New groups were formed, such as the Highway QC’s (QC : Quincy
College), and sung harmonized negro spirituals.
This
constant improvement of negro spirituals gave birth to another type of
Christian songs. These were inspired by the Bible (mainly the Gospel of Christ) and
related to the daily life.
Thomas A. Dorsey was the first who composed
such new songs. He called them Gospel songs, but some people say “Dorseys”.
He is considered as being the Father of Gospel music.
It
is of interest to see that, during this period, blacks began
to leave the South and went North. Then, Gospel songs were more and more
popular in Northern towns, like Chicago.
Between
1915 and 1925, many Black singers, like
Paul
Robeson, performed either at church or on stage, or even in movies,
then negro spirituals were considered mainly as traditional songs. In
the late 1930s, Sister Rosetta Tharpe dared sing Gospel songs in a nightclub.
This was the very start of singing Gospel songs in many kinds of places:
churches, theaters, concert halls. The number of quartets was high, at
that time.
At
the same time, some preachers and their congregations were also famous;
some of them recorded negro spirituals and Gospel songs. Ministers, like
James Cleveland, made tours with their
choruses, in the United States and abroad.
In
the late 1950s and early 1960s, before and during rallies for Civil Rights,
demonstrators sang negro spirituals.
For example, “We Shall Overcome”
and “This Little Light of Mine” were popular
After
1985
The
first Dr Martin Luther King's Day was celebrated in 1985; it became a national
holiday in 1992. This event is a milestone in the history of African American:
it shows that the Black African American community is a part of the US nation.
This Day is included in the month, when Black History is celebrated through
various events.
Since
that first King’s Day, Negro spirituals have been considered as being
pieces of the American heritage. So, they are often in the programs of
events reminding Black History.
It
appears that today everyone may perform Gospel music in the United States.
The main issue is to know how to improve the Black African American integrity
in singing negro spirituals and other Christian songs.
Know
more on History
More
on the history of slavery,
click
here
Other
documents about North American slaves “North
American Slave Narratives”
Know
more on African American History, click
here (MENC : National Association for Music Education)
Facts
of Black History,
click here
Some
books to
read:
Peter
KOLCHIN,
“American Slavery”, Penguin Books, London, New York, 1995
Joanna
GRANT,
« Black Protest. History, Documents and Analyses », Fawcett
Premier, New York, 1968
Leon
F. LITWACK
“Trouble in Mind”, Vintage Books, New York, 1998
Robert
S. STAROBIN,
« Blacks in Bondage. Letters of American Slaves", Barnes
and Noble Books, York, 1988
Benjamin
QUARLES,
« The Negro in the Making of America », A Touchstone Book
Simon and Schuster Publ., 1996
Stephan
THERNSTROM,
Abigail THERNSTROM, « America in Black and White. One Nation
Indivisible » A Touchstone Book Simon and Schuster Publ., 1999 |
