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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page research paper that investigates the relationship between spirituals and the blues. The writer argues that both are forms of religious expression as well as vehicles for protest. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
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5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khspblu.rtf
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difficult to imagine how enslaved Africans might have heard (this) passage from Exodus" (1990, p. 3). There were very few creative options open to Africans caught in the trap of
slavery, and any rebellion was met with severe physical retribution. However, as Spencer (1990) points out, music afforded slaves the opportunity to mask their sorrow and their protest within the
hope offered by religion. Spencer writes, "for the enslaved Africans, the first blows of liberation from bondage could only have been brought about by those liberated form a slave
mentality" (1990, p. 5). By using biblical imagery, slaves could sing of liberation, of the suppressed overcoming all obstacles. For example, the triumph of David over Goliath: "Little David
was a shepherd boy, / He killed Goliath and shouted for joy" (Spencer, 1990, p. 5). While everything else sent the message to the slave that slavery was
his natural condition, spirituals argued that they should be free -- "My Lord delivered Daniel/ and why not every man? " (Spencer, 1990, p. 8). As this demonstrates, spirituals were
theological "reflections of a long-standing practice of liberation and therefore songs of revelation and liberation" (Spencer, 1990, p. 8). As well as veiled protest, spirituals have served as a
means by which oppressed African Americans could expressed their extreme frustration, melancholy and longing. Intensely moving slow spirituals, such as Sometimes I feel like a motherless child and Were you
there when they crucified my Lord reveal the heartfelt emotion of the singer, as well as his own trials and troubles and subsequent identification with the suffering of Jesus Christ
(Oliver, et al, 1986). Nevertheless, some musical authorities feel that practically all spirituals are "codified songs of protest" (Oliver, et al, 1986). One can see this point in that many
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