The editions “Labor et Fides” publish a fascinating work devoted to the social, cultural and militant place of the African-American Church in the history of the United States. ” Black Church evokes the appropriation of the cult by African slaves who have become, over the centuries, American citizens, spokespersons for a resilient community. Music plays an essential role in this process of identity affirmation, as underlined by Henry Louis Gates Jr, author of this edifying study.
60 years ago, black America experienced a major popular revolution by rising up against police exactions and daily discrimination. Martin Luther King became the apostle of non-violence and his speeches took on incantatory accents whose musicality irresistibly referred to the vehement sermons of churchmen. The “spirituals” that have accompanied the religious celebrations of the African-American community for centuries gave strength to the civil rights movement during the 1960s in the United States. Singer Mahalia Jackson was a strong supporter of equal opportunity and never failed to support Pastor King’s commitment. ” When Martin Luther King faced times of intense stress, when he faced the racism of daily, he called Mahalia Jackson in the middle of the night, sometimes To two o’clock in the morning, And informed him of his concern over threats from supremacists white who predicted a violent death. The story unfortunately proved him right. He so called Mahalia Jackson on the phone. She picked up: Martin ? “. He replied: “Mahalia ? “. And he added: I need you comfort ! “. She immediately understood the message and began to sing her favorite tune over the phone. It was a composition of Thomas AT. Dorsey Who had collaborated with Mahalia early in her career. The song was called “ precious Lord, Take My Hand “. (Henry Louis Gates Jr on the microphone of Joe Farmer).
Henry Louis Gates Jr is the director of the Center for African and African-American Studies at Harvard University in Cambridge (Massachusetts). He is an enlightened orator of the destiny of blacks in America. He is the author of a series of television documentaries entitled ” Black Church: This is our story, This is our song “. Born in 1950 in a segregationist society, he experienced, like any black citizen across the Atlantic, racism, bullying and humiliation. He lived in this constant oppression and was able to closely observe the attitude of his elders to the injustice of a totally unequal system. Music was often a bulwark against despair. In his eyes, whether we go to blues clubs or sing hymns, the expressive power of words and notes nurtures the spirit of collegial resilience. ” Saturday evenings, in the south, the African American population was going to the Juke Joints. To the north, the blacks went to the clubs of Harlem. It was the occasion to attend concerts of Bessie Smith, Granny Smith, Clara Smith, My Rainey, without forgetting Louis armstrong who was playing in the orchestra of Bessie Smith. There was also Duke Ellington who gave many concerts Saturday evenings To Harlem at that time. When the sun rose on Sunday morning, the blacks rushed home to put on their best clothes and headed towards the church. And there they confessed of their sins of the day before. They were not aware to carry in them a musical heritage they had heard in clubs like To the church. They have it remodeled As they wish And made sacred music out of it. So we can say that the blues is the primary form of gospel even though it sparked many controversies. » (Henry Louis Gates Jr on RFI)
From Ragtime to Hip Hop, Afro-American music has its source in the black Church, the only place of resistance spared from the pressure of white power. It is there, in this refuge, that the social rebellion was able to be born and lead to an indisputable recognition of the political, economic and cultural weight of the African community in the United States. Each song from the so-called “sacred” heritage carries with it a message of protest inherited from the anger and frustration of working slaves. ” When I interviewed Oprah Winfrey For this work “Black Church”, she said the following: “There is nothing more fundamental that the black church in the evolution of the society American. The Black Church represented All for the African American community. In his childhood, as in mine, the church was omnipresent and guided our steps. Oprah Winfrey even suggested to me THE subtitle for my book “This is our story and these are our songs ! “. It is inspired of a hymn religious, titled “Blessed Assurance », writing in 1873 by a white Christian woman named Fanny Crosby whom it was considered as one of the queens of gospel at the time. The music was composed by another white Christian woman named Phoebe Knapp. The black community took it over And, now, in all the black churches, every sunday you can hear this song became legendary. All this to tell you that sacred music played by blacks is a transformation of hymns written by white, English or American religious, baptists or Methodists, than gospel choirs african americans are completely reappropriated. Let’s not omit no say that the sap of these songs also comes from the traditions African imported by the slaves on THE floor American. » (Henry Louis Gates Jr – March 2023)
As 2023 marks the 60th anniversary of the famous sermon ” I have a dream » delivered by Pastor Martin Luther King Jr, on August 28, 1963, in Washington, reading « Black Church » (Editions Labor Et Fides) is a beautiful opening towards an attentive and ecumenical listening to the black American repertoire which carried the legitimate demands of a battered people whose indisputable temerity is constantly being rediscovered. The “Black Lives Matter” movement was a good demonstration of this, once again, relayed by many interpreters of “The Epic of Black Music”.
⇒ The website of Labor and Fides editions
⇒ The website of Henry Louis Gates Junior – Harvard University.