Sacred music provided comfort and hope to generations of African Americans, from slavery to the Civil Rights Movement. Music scholar Robert Darden tells this inspiring story and we hear lots of great music.
Interview Highlights
“There was a message in many of the old spirituals that gave information on how to escape. There were spirituals that taught them to read and write and count. There were spirituals that were a virtual road map - all of them sung under the noses of the people who were oppressing them.”
“Slaves cobbled together something remarkable close to the first century Christian church - based on Jesus loves you and Jesus came to die for you and there’s a place for you in my father’s mansion and everything else is immaterial.”
“I can use this music as a tool to overcome oppression. I can use it to help lift me up when I’ve been beaten by dogs and water cannons. I can use another piece of music to tamp me down when I’m so angry that I want to go out and bust heads. I can use this music to bring in new recruits and volunteers.”
“When people hear this music, black and white, hearts are changed. When the white volunteers come down, they don’t become true believers until they go to the first mass meeting and hear the singing. In their letters home, they write, ‘I get it now.’”
Here's a link to a Spotify playlist of some of the songs Darden suggests: