https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/640128d83a9ffe849e65ed667ad4d770.pdf 2489e5e28fae4c6674e571282da04cd8 PDF Text Text III Spi r ituo.ls: 11 Try i n I to c;et b ot,1 e 11 For ma ny rea~:;ons, tb c use of tbe word de s cribe Blacl: reli c io s ity is a 1.1isnor,ier. 11 s piri tual II to Curr ent i nter- pretations, outline d by new information and e:-;1pirical research into h istory and t lrnuch t convinces us t h at tbe entire Black world is 11 s pirituul 11 : i.e., informed by and responsible to a "hi ghe r orde r"--th e order of God or the "c;ods." The 0x- G\1ber a nce, t he spo ntaneity, the ecstasy, the trances, t he talkin c; in tongues , tbe racial flavor and flair in dress (at church and ni c;htclub ), all point up the interdependence and the into c;ration of various modes and points of view in the Black communit y . Professor Hork descri b es it as "th is difference and this oneness." The contemporary Black poet Hayde n und erstand s this intoc;ration w1len, in a poem to Malcolm X, h e e.xcl a iJ.w tl ic 11 blazin13 oneness II of Allah. Further proof of t h i::i fu s ion is s e en in the emotional a.ba.ndonrnent of church folk during s ecular picnics, socials ~nd other events of merriment. One has only to listen to Aretha Franklin alter- nate between Gospel and blues to see tl1is unity of expression c:' operating today. / 5. And certainly it is clear in the works of Let us observe that the most brilliant and inrluential Black poets have intimately understood this aspect of Black culture . Almost 11ithout exception (and Kerlin, Brown and 37 �the Staples Singers , the Edwin Hawkins Singers and in a more vulgarized manne r in Flip Wilson (Rev. Leroy). 11 of one brother, In the words tl-i e preacher and tbe pimp style out heavy. 11 Still, it is i mp ortant that we offer the traditional portrait and break-down of Black folk expression--so as not to coni'use or invade the 11 sacrec1 11 bastions of history. The Spirituals have been the source of continuing de bate among scholars: Are t h ey completely African in ori Gin? Are they primarily Ene;lish (Nethodist, Hesleya.n, etc.) in orii:;in? Or do they represent the co-joining of African/European tbemes and reliciosity? Persons desiring to concentrate on t h is area of Black poetry should trace the history of these ar guments and debates and reach conclusions of their own. Johnson (and his brother, J. Rosamond) put together the best known collection of these sonc;s in Tl1e Book of American Nec;ro Spirituals (1925), and The Second Book of American Negro_Splrituals (1926). The Spirituals usually deal with physical or fi gurative contact between the singer (or congre gat ion) and God. (Early Afro-Americans often used the words God, Jesus, Savior, and Lord interchangeably. For a more thorough discussion of this see Benjamin May::i' The Negro's God.) The sonc;s also doal with others Harn young Black writers to follow example) Black poets sinc e the Civ il War have availed t hemselves of inte c;ral folk rudiments--even when they did not use them in poetry. / It is still a fact that Black culture (despite the racist and techno- JG �a longing for rest and the overcoming of for midable ob stacles or adversaries. Professor Work's 1915 study was se minal and remains a landmark in the study of African and Black American songs. His work provides many answers to questions and issues that had been (and co ntinue to be) muddied by the waters of insensitivity and careless research. His efforts, "undertaken for the love of our fat h ers' songs," gives clear connections be;tween the African and Afro-American folk son g . His main co ncern is for t he reli e;ious songs--altllouc;h his comments on form and style are of g eneral value: In America we h e ar it (the song ) and see it acted in the b arn dance, on the stac;e, in the streets a mong t be ch ildre n ; in fact, many an occasion is e nli vened by th is s pecies of music, the interest in wh ich ls inten::iified by tbe rhyt11mical patting of ha nd s and feet. This rhythm is most strikingl y a nd o.ccurately brought out in their work sonc;s. Citing the emotionalis m and song ified intensity of the Black American, Professor Work says "He worships not so much because he ouc;bt, as because be loves to worsbip. II Th is "worsh ip, of course, is the kind we referred to earlier: II t h e inte gration logical barrages of the West) still remains m~re consciously "integrated '" than other cultural unit in America. 39 �of sensuality and ecstasy into the sweeping ritual of live and i1:1mediate dram'l. Sucb musi cal activity is "as natural to tl1e American Necro as bis breath 11 : Indeed, it is a portrayal of his soul, and is as ch aract eristi c as are his physical features. Hear him sing in his church, hear bin preach, moan , and gl ve ' gravery ' in l1is sermon, hear t h e was berwoman sine;inc; over her tub , hear the lab orer singinc; his accompaninent to his toil, 11ear the child babbl i ng an extemporaneous tune .•.• Even those ITegr oes who have been educated and who have been influenced by lone; study, find it difficult to express their musical selves in any other i-rny. Black ::;onr;, as is readily obsorvablc, possesses b oth pure song (the verse and chorus plan) and chant (use of interjections and exple tives) qualities: Poor mun Laz 1 rus, poor as I, Don't you see? Poor man Laz•rus, poor as I, Don't you □ co? 1foen be died be found a home on high , Ile had a home in dat rock, Don't you see? Alluding to t he deeper, more psychological, meaning of these songs , Professor Hork says "there are closer relations between �·7 'bra,-i , the soul and musical expressions tl1an have.A satisfactorily explained. These relat ions can be felt, but any accurate descri ption se ems bey ond the grasp of man 1 s mind. 11 Never- theless this i mp ortant study goes on to classify and numb er these songs of: Joy , S orrow, Sorrow with Note of Joy, Faith, Hope, Love, Determination , Adoration, Patience, Courage and Humility. Like most scholars of the Spirituals, this one points out tl1at th e re is no h ate, resentment or vindictiveness in them. How eve r, Dr. Thurman, theolo gian and philosopb er, has excavated underpinnings of turbulence. In Tbe Negro Spiritual, Dr. Thur man tells us death was i mmediate and ever-present for t he slave . In such an atmosphere of anxiety and fear, the slave developed a rather stoic attitude in which he saw death as inescapable arrl as, possibly, the only remaining ve11 icle for mediation wi t11 the plantation lords. The s lave could take his own life, if he wanted to--ns he did many ti mes in prefer ence to slavery or separation fro r:1 family and/or loved ones. Dr. Thurman's brilliant analysis must be read by any serious student of Blac k thought and culture. Johnson (who also classified the songs) 6 said 11 hierarchy of poets for the Spirituals included the song- maker (writer) and th e song'"leader. 6. The leader had to rememb er leadin g lines, Johnson, Brown, Kerlin and Dr. Thurman also g ive con- sideration to t11e 11 poetic 11 co ntent of the Spirituals. Jobnson and Professor Horlc discuss the preservation a nd promotion of 4.1 �pitch tunes true and possess a powerful voice. Johnson, who (like Professor Vork) believes the earliest Black American songs were built on the common African form, sa.ys the Spirituals were written by individuals and set to tre moods of groups. Like the blues, their secular and structural cousins, the Spirituals incorporated antiphony or call-and-response which allowed for audience (congregation) participation (eitber by alternating, or intermingling, with the leader): Leader: Oh, de Ribber of Jordan is deep and wide, Congregation: One mo' ribber to cross. Leader: I don't know how to get on de otber side, Congregation: One mo 1 ribber to cross. Heavily influenced by Cbr:l.stian imagery and mythology, the creators of the S pirituals often chose the most militant of biblical personalities as their heroes. 11 This aspect of these poems 11 opens up an entire area of questions and research for the student seeking to compare/contrast biblical themes and characters to the Spirituals. Certainly tbere is need to ex- amine the English Hymns and Psalms in the framework of such a study. The Spirituals should also be compared/contrasted to the Black literary verse of the period during whicb they these songs through archival holdine;s, cboir concert tours and the attention paid to them by composers. 42 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Text Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_08_13 Title A name given to the resource Copy of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, III. Spirituals, p. 14-36, typed manuscript with handwritten edits Relation A related resource Eugene B. 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