Gospel’s Influence on Black History

By Iris Raeshaun/OURNEWS

   Gospel music, for centuries, has sustained and helped revolutionize the African American race. From Africa to America, gospel music, spirituals, and hymns, invigorated their souls with hope and courage. It’s moving, encouraging, and inspiring.

   Historically, it played an integral role in both the salvation and advancements for enslaved and free African Americans. “It was and continues to be used as an instrument by the Holy Spirit to comfort and give hope,” explains Lannie Spann McBride, a former music teacher at Jackson State University and Minister of Music at Greater Fairview Missionary Baptist Church where she has served 44 years.

   Slaves sang spirituals such as “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,’ or “Steal Away to Jesus,’ or “Give Me Two Wings to Fly Away,’ to communicate escaping to the underground railroad, uprisings, or deaths. They sang spirituals, passionately pouring out their souls’ miseries and joys to God.

   “They were telegraphing long before one was made, “ says McBride. “God gave them great, great aesthetic ability to transport something into each other’s souls ad minds.”

   Through its power, gospel music not only provided African Americans an avenue for survival, but its influence upon other cultures bridged gaps, bringing together entities for common good.

   Former First Lady Elenor Roosevelt orchestrated a stage upon the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for Marian Anderson to sing before 75,.000 black and white attendees, after Anderson wasn’t allowed to sing at the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Constitution Hall because she was black. America’s first black opera star, Marian Anderson, was deeply religious and recorded religions-themed albums. She was the United States third-largest opera draw in the 1930s.

   “The spirituality of Marion’s songs broke barriers and opened doors for others, such as Leontyne Price. That one event gave African Americans opportunities in all other areas,” says McBride, who describes spirituals as classics, which moves masses of all races.

   Gospel music has also touched the masses through pop, rock ‘n’ roll, the blues, country jazz, rap, and classical music, as well as through the influences of Elvis Presley, B. B King, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Fantasia and many more.

   Seventy-nine year old gospel singer and preacher Shirley Ceasar, rapped the title track, “I Know the Truth’ on her 2012 album ‘The Power of Gospel’ changing her style but not her message.  More recently, in 2020 she wrote and recorded “Take Your Knee Off My Neck” a song she wrote speaking against police brutality against blacks and in honor of George Floyd. 

   “Though I’m not as strict as I use to be when it comes to singing certain kinds of gospel music, I try to work more and more with younger artists to be relevant and reach them with God’s word through music,” says Caesar.

   With 11 Grammys, 18 Dove Awards, and 14 Stellar Awards, Caesar is the most influential gospel singer since Mahalia Jackson. In 2007, she celebrated her 40^th year as a singer and evangelist by releasing her third solo album entitled, ‘After 40 Years…Still Sweeping Through the City.”

   Caesar began her career with The Caravans in 1958 and her solo career in 1966. Breaking barriers in her own way, Caesar used gospel music to establish herself as an evangelist and preacher, by delivering mini-sermons in her songs, since women preachers were not allowed in pulpits.

   Bill Carpenter, author of ‘Uncloudy Days: The Gospel Music Encyclopedia, sees gospel music as being instrumental in changing the course of African Americans and society in general.

   “Things are different now,” says Carpenter. “We don’t have the kind of Jim Crow segregation like we did in the past. Marion singing at the White House was very unusual for a black person or a woman. Mahalia appearing as an ambassador for gospel on television shows in the 1950s was highly unusual Now, very little is brand new. There’s very few firsts left. I attribute that to Mahalia Jackson, Rosetta Tharp, Thomas Dorsey and others because they swung open various doors of opportunity by using gospel music.

Uncloudy Days: The Gospel Music Encyclopedia

Book received the 2007 NAACP Image Award Nominee for Outstanding Literary Work

   Uncloudy Days: The Gospel Music Encyclopedia by Bil Carpenter chronicles the careers of the 650 gospel artists and personalities from 1900 to the present day. With a forward by Edwin Hawkins and an introduction by Mavis Staples, this book is a treasure chest of fascinating profiles on all the influential names in gospel music, including Thomas Dorsey, Mahalia Jackson, the Hawkins family, Clara Ward, James Cleveland, the Winans and more. It also uncovers the histories of gospel artists who may be unfamiliar to many gospel fans.

   Many of the book’s 100-plus interviews reveal stories never published. Author Bil Carpenter relates such fascinating tales as how Philip Bailey’s record label pressed him to make gospel music that sounded like his pop hit Easy Lover  and how a sex scandal almost silenced the Boys Choir of Harlem; and how 615-pound Gloria Spencer – billed as the world’s largest gospel singer – suffered circus-like exploitation. The book also includes a glossary of gospel terms, trivia tidbits, and lists of the all-time- best-selling gospel recordings, gospel songs that crossed over to R & B charts, and gospel Grammy, Dove, and Stellar Award winners. The first true gospel music encyclopedia, Uncloudy Days explores the artist who profoundly influence early rock ‘n’ roll and soul music and provided inspiration for millions of the faithful.