In light of the intersection between Black History Month and Grace Meridian Hill’s commitment to build a “cross-cultural community,” I’ll be sharing a series of posts this month on notable individuals, features, institutions, and events in the history and heritage of the African-American Church. For starters, here’s something on the topic of music.

What is “gospel music”? How does it uniquely relate to and express the historical experience of Black Christians?

What follows are excerpts from Gwendolin Sims Warren’s very helpful book on the history of music in the Black Church, which includes song examples and stirring background stories and biographies of songwriters: Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit: 101 Best-Loved Psalms, Gospel Hymns, and Spiritual Songs of the African American Church (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1997, pp. 3-4, 104-107). 

The most severe and adverse situations brought forth the greatest and most powerful songs.

As in the first centuries of the Christian church when believers endured great persecution, singing not only sustained [African-American Christians] but brought triumph in the midst of the most difficult circumstances. … Out of the bondage of enslavement came the spiritual. Out of the depression of the 1930s came the great gospel songs. Out of the civil rights movement of the second half of the twentieth century have come the bold and beautiful freedom songs and contemporary gospel and praise songs. These songs that have become part of the black Christian tradition give praise and thanksgiving to God in all circumstances, expressing confidence in His loving care, no matter what the situation. As noted black historian W.E.B. Du Bois once described it, these songs express the viewpoint that ‘God is on the side of the oppressed.’ …

Following the Civil War and Emancipation, the 1870s were the era of Reconstruction. Approximately four million slaves had been set free, and government and social agencies, including the Freedmen’s Bureau, were established to help them in the transition. But little was accomplished in the way of actual assistance. Other than being legally declared free, many of the former slaves were no better off than they had been prior to the Civil War. Although the majority of the newly freed slaves remained in the South, large numbers of them began a northward migration. With dreams of employment and opportunity beckoning them, African-Americans soon found themselves in yet another strange land, the North, the home of the Unionists who had helped fight for the slaves’ freedom. Sadly, most did not find the welcome they had hoped for. Although some were able to find and maintain employment, the competition with whites seeking employment in a white-owned business and industrial world was formidable. Prejudice and racism may have been a bit more subtle than in the South, but they were still very real factor. With this migration to the North came the urbanization of African-Americans, as they moved from the country to the cities in search of employment and housing. And when the blacks moved in, the whites moved out. It was obvious that although the slaves had been emancipated, they were still disenfranchised. It was in this setting that the seeds of gospel music began to grow.

Gospel music is more than a certain type of song. It is a feeling, or an expression of feelings, that releases its singers to “sing a new song” each time a song is performed, even while repeating the already familiar words.

There are two main divisions of gospel music: historic gospel, which began as early as 1870 but is usually considered to span from the years just prior to the depression up to the 1950s [e.g., Charles Tindley, Thomas Dorsey, Sallie Martin, Mahalia Jackson, etc.] and contemporary or modern gospel, which includes gospel songs written from the 1960s to the present [e.g., Andrae Crouch, Richard Smallwood, Kirk Franklin, etc.]. Although the civil rights movement wasn’t in full swing until the beginning of the contemporary gospel era, it had already begun during the end of the historic gospel period, producing what are sometimes referred to as the “freedom songs.” Again, there is a lot of overlapping between one era and the next. The type of gospel music most often sung in black churches then and now was birthed primarily in the depression era of the 1930s and 1940s. …  

Gospel music was not the only type of music to evolve out of the hard times of the depression. The blues, a musical form which emerged from a type of music known as ragtime, also came into popularity during that time. In some ways, gospel music and the blues had much in common, in that both expressed the feelings and experiences of the era from which they were born. The primary difference between the two styles, however, was that the blues focused more on outward circumstances, making a sort of political statement on tragic social and economic conditions. Gospel music, although also a statement on the times, focused on the eternal hope of those caught in the social and economic difficulties of the era, and that hope was just as in the time of the writing of the spirituals [i.e., the Plantation Songs and Jubilee Songs from 1600-1870]—that God was the people’s provider, their protector, their defender, their deliverer, their Savior. Because of this, the historic gospel songs centered on Jesus, whom people saw as the problem-solver, rather than on the problems themselves. Blues songs, despite the appeal of their deep sense of pathos, left both singers and listeners with a sense of hopelessness.

Gospel music had the exact opposite effect, bringing its singers and listeners from hopelessness to hope. And in times of hardship, hope is a much sought-after commodity. The word “gospel,” in fact, means “good news,” and people in the midst of a bad situation are usually ripe for some good news.

It is not surprising, then, that gospel music has so deeply affected the music surrounding the entire black experience in America. It remains such a powerful and influence force today because the church is still the most powerful and influential institution within the African-American community. Bernice Johnson Reagon, editor of We’ll Understand It Better By and By: Pioneering African American Gospel Composers, refers to gospel music as “by far the most vibrant, community-based musical genre within African America.” …

Gospel music is not just a collection of a type (or types) of songs. It is also a style of singing. Many of the gospel songs we are familiar with today originated in the words of hymns or spirituals, while other gospel songs are new compositions, performed in a variety of gospel styles. … Gospel music historian Pearl Williams-Jones has said, “Inherent in this [gospel music] is the concept of African American folk rhetoric, folk expressions, bodily movement, charismatic energy, cadence, tonal range and timbre.” With this explanation of gospel music in mind, it is easy to see why it is almost a misnomer to refer to those hearing others sing gospel as “listeners.” Whether singing or hearing gospel music, almost all become involved at a deeper level than merely listening. Singers and hearers alike are participants in the exuberant experience of gospel, becoming caught up both in the exciting message of hope and in the passionate tone of the music. Worship and praise are not spectator sports in gospel-singing churches. They are as real and natural as breathing to the congregants and singers alike—as real as the stories and histories behind the songs themselves.

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