Gospel Music During The Great Migration

Smith utilized several metaphors to help the academy and the church to appreciate the significance and vibrancy of black preaching. The metaphor on exegetical escort is designed to usher the hearer into the presence of God for transformation. While doctrinal dancing is described as the preacher worshipping God in the preaching moment which results in the hearer exalting and praising God. Likewise, the metaphor of doctrinal preaching as jazz music bring out the fact that preaching is an art which requires the preacher to know his or her craft. The metaphor which resonated with me the most involves the dance steps to doctrinal preaching. The start low, go slow, rise, strike fire, retire, and sit down in a storm reminded me of what I heard over thirty- five years by Rev. Jesse V. Bottom, Sr. He used the metaphor of an old steam train departing the train station and painted the picture of the conductor saying all aboard. The train starts out slow, and the speed was built up by adding coals to the fire for momentum. As the train would draw near its destination the conductor would toot the horn signaling the conclusion of the trip.

Since the arrival of African Americans in this country blacks have always had differing experiences. Consequently, African-Americans have had to forge a self-identity out of what has been passed on to them as fact about their true selves. History has wrought oppression and subjugation to this particular race of people and as a result, certain institutions were formed in order aid African-Americans, culturally, spiritually and economically. The African-American Church has served of one such institution. From the time of slavery, though outlawed, many slaves found ways to congregate and form their own "churches", away from the one-sided and bias lessons about the bible that they were being taught in the white church. The white ministers and

Spirituals, a religious folk song of American origin, particularly associated with African-American Protestants of the southern United States. The African-American spiritual, characterized by syncopation, polyrhythmic structure, and the pentatonic scale of five whole tones, is, above all, a deeply emotional song. Spirituals are really the most characteristic product of the race genius as yet in America. But the very elements which make them uniquely expressive of the Negro make them at the same time deeply representative of the soil that produced them. Spirituals were long thought to be the only original folk music of the United States, and research into its origin centered mainly on the nature and extent of its African

Eileen Southern’s The Music of Black Americans: A History she examines the influence that African Americans had in the holiness churches in music and worship. She initially starts with the landing of the first Africans to the colonies and she creates a phenomenal conversation of the musicians in the new world. She details the progression in the gospel, classical, jazz, rap, blues and the contributions they made.

“When first entering in America, British folk music was distinguished by three-chord tunes, sparse instrumentation (with some fiddlers), mostly male performers, improvisation, the singers’ sporadic shouts (Scottish “yips”), Christian themes served up in hundreds of hymns, and a secular collection of songs that told stories, generally about love and lost love, using metaphor and symbol to tell those stories” (Allen 101). By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, British music changed and became Americanized. Vocal harmonizing slowly evolved, and fiddlers were accompanied by those who played banjo, an African American opening. “Tambourines and “bones” (tapping out rhythms using pork rib bones) were a minstrel show contribution” (Allen 102). When African Americans were forced into slavery and brought to North America in the 1600s, they brought their own musical traditions and sounds. Slaves who were on the Mississippi River Valley delta soil developed what will later be introduced as blues music. On the plantations, slaves greatly changed British American hymn singing. They took non-religious British American songs and turned it into their own forms of music that followed their culture and taste of music. Blues emerged in the early twentieth century at the same time country music became settled from its folk roots. Blues music talked about the indifferences African American slaves were going through at that time. “The blues voiced human

Negro spirituals was a “genre” of music introduced by African American slaves in response to their lives and treatment by the white race. It gave many slaves the voice of opposition that they never had and allowed them to subliminally speak against their masters without fear of consequences. Said to have originated from slaves who were “Unable to read the Bible for themselves and skeptical of their masters’ interpretation of it…” (Raboteau). These songs were “… the message of the Christian gospel… translated… into

The Great Migration was a massive movement of African Americans from the South to the North from 1863 to 1960. The largest spike in this migration occurred from about 1910 to 1920.

The Church of God in Christ started as a black sect of the Holiness movement in the Mississippi Valley. The black Holiness movement began in response to the Great Migration of blacks moving from the rural south to the urban north after changes in the agricultural economy. It gave African Americans an emotional release through the practices of shouting. Shouting is generally known as a loud outburst in church after being overwhelmed with the spirit of the Lord combined with fast dance similar to stepping. Baer says that this practice was popular in the black community as it provided a temporary spiritual relief from frustrations on racism and poverty. Overall, the goal of the Holiness movement was to promote sanctification of

The Social Gospel is the idea of social problems being looked and fixed with a Christian point of view. The Gospel will always stay the same and we should refer the Social Gospel as living out the Gospel. The goal of the Social Gospel Movement was to tie salvation and good work together. They thought people should live the life of a Jesus Christ. Classes, counseling, job training and libraries were provided by churches to act according to the Social Gospel. The origins and issues of the Social Gospel Movement, how the Social Gospel related to a Progressive Era, the work of Walter Rauschenbusch, and how Social Gospel relates to the Gospel will be covered in this essay.

African American religious music is the foundation of all contemporary forms of so called “black music.” African American religious music has been a fundamental part of the black experience in this country. This common staple of the African American experience can be traced back to the cruel system of slavery. It then evolved into what we refer to today as gospel music. The goal of this paper is to answer three main questions. What are the origins of African American religious music? How did this musical expression develop into a secular form of music? What is the future of African American religious music? These questions will be answered through factual research of African American traditions, artists, and various other sources.

It can be assumed that Christianity shaped slave culture in several ways such as developing a common bond among slaves. At the some time, it could also be argued that slavery altered Christianity in various ways including the formation of Methodist and Baptist denominations. However, these were not the only manners in which both cultures had an effect on each other. Black converts dramatically increased the number of Christians in the New World. The ideas instilled in slaves by Christianity gave some slaves thoughts of rebellion and influenced African-American music and dance. Not to mention the church was a major supporter of the proslavery argument which conveyed slavery as a positive thing during the

American Gospel music is founded in the African American church. It has a deep culture in America. It is used as an outlet for people who have been oppressed, beaten down, and persecuted. Gospel music acts as a source of inspiration for those who had all but given up. It speaks of the various trials and struggles they’ve undergone, and how they were able to overcome. Is also used as a form of praise and worship, giving thanks to the Lord. The term “gospel” means “the good news.” Gospel music is used to tell the good news of the salvation people have received from the Lord, rescuing them from all of the trials and struggles of the world. Gospel music has been influenced by genres such as jazz and blues. It is a combination of many different forms of music, producing a new and unique type of sound.

African-American religion dealt with life as blacks lived it. It was about pain and sorrow, sin and shortcoming, pardon and joy, praise and thanksgiving, grace and hope. This version of Evangelicalism provided a wonderful benefit; it was able to accomplish great things in their lives that were frequently shouted about. Whether it be through a simple shout during church, or a song sung in the fields Evangelicalism took root among African-Americans. Large numbers underwent conversion, baptism, instruction, worship, and lived the life of a Christian even in face of oppression. Although, the development of their own religious institutions would await Emancipation and the war 's end, there were many thousands of Negro Baptists and Methodists by 1850, which represented what African-American religious culture had grown into.

Religious songs were also another group. They were sung accompanied by clapping of hands and foot stamping. Slaves had their own ways of praying and worshipping in their native land which assisted them to be introduced to Christianity. Africans used to sing songs, give testimonies and worship to their gods and deities; a culture which they could not forsake. These songs were classified as work, jubilee and social. Work songs sung while working in the field to give the black community hope and freedom. Social songs contained social messages and the jubilee songs were sung in the church.

For centuries, Gospel music has influenced and promoted African-American social, moral and ethical values, playing an imperative role in modelling their past and future. Originating from the hardships of slavery and the strength of Christian worship, Gospel music has adapted to musical tastes through the development of a number of sub-genres, while retaining its moral and spiritual framework. Throughout its musical history, Gospel music has had a profound and predominant influence on its devotees and followers. During the turbulent years of the American Civil Rights Movement, Gospel music played a vital role in building the foundations of stability and