From time immemorial music and singing have played a critical role in inspiring, ‘mobilising, giving voice, giving courage, and a sense of unity’ (King, 1964:58). A case in point is the slave songs, which through the ages evolved to protest music during the African-American’s black freedom struggle, and eventually to Negro Spirituals. Historical research accounts indicate that slave songs are as old as the slave trade, which started with the discovery of the Americas in 1492, leading to the creation of new colonies with a great need for cheap labour.
From the mid-sixteenth century European ships were carrying African slaves to Brazil, the Caribbean and North America in steadily increasing numbers (Du Bois, 1994; Bolton, 2006;
Jones, 2007). Slave songs have been interpreted as thinly-veiled expression of protest against slavery and oppression. According to Du Bois (1994) the American slave songs, which he refers to as ‘the Music of Negro religion’,
were the rhythmic cry of the slave which was persistently mistaken and misunderstood, but notwithstanding, it still remains as the singular spiritual heritage of the nation and the greatest gift of the Negro people which stirred the nation with mighty power (Du Bois, 1994:116).
A characteristic of the early slave songs, which were subsequently referred to as Negro Spirituals, is the religious element, through which the singers ‘expressed their longing, aspirations, hope and joys that came from the Christian religion’ (Smith, 2008:9).
Protest music is a term which gained currency (first in the USA) in the 1960s for songs which voiced feelings of protest about social or political injustice, or about events which aroused strong emotions of hopefulness (See section 1.8 in the previous chapter). A famous example is ‘We Shall Overcome’ (Sheurer, 2009). Protest music is supposed to change our minds about something, or at least bring attention to an issue that the artist thinks deserves change (Mark Wheat)5.
Therefore, Negro Spirituals evolved from slave songs which were coined by African people, who were captured and forcefully shipped off to the Americas, to be sold into slavery.
3. Spiritual and the civil rights movement5 The Power of Protest
Music.http://Minnesota/publicradio.org/collection/special/columns/music
According to Jones (2007:2), ‘This stolen race was deprived of their languages, families and cultures, yet their masters could not take away their music’ (Thomas, 2001:14).
Consequently, over the years, the slaves and their descendants adopted Christianity, the religion and language of their masters. They therefore linguistically reshaped their songs into a personal way of dealing with their oppression, their nostalgia, their pain of having been uprooted from their homelands, as well as the agony of slavery (Thomas, 2001:14). These songs, which became known as Negro Spirituals, reflected the slaves’ need to express their plight and new faith. They memorized Bible stories and translated them into songs whose lyrics were cryptically coined with idioms, which were transplanted from Africa, thus enabling them to disceetly communicate with each other without the knowledge of their masters (Pershey, 2000) and (Mapunde, 2008). Some of the lyrics they coined ‘were linguistically coded messages of subversion against the slaveholders, and signalled escape’
(Mapunde, 2008:12). This was the case when the slaves planned to escape bondage, and seek freedom via the Underground Railroad (Thomas, 2001:14; Mapunde, 2008).
A study by Smith (2008:6), a researcher on Negro Spirituals, reveals that the slave songs were also referred to as ‘plantation songs’, which were a ‘product of suffering, the hardship, and the despairs of those in bondage as they gave utterance to their emotions in songs, the partings, after their beloved had been sold to other masters, and the sorrows, as well as the desolation of separations.’ Another researcher, Meltzer (1994:32), asserts that some slave songs ‘contained explicit instructions to fugitive slaves on how to avoid capture, and on which routes to take to successfully make their way to freedom’. Meltzer (1994) further adds that,
Wade in the Water allegedly recommends leaving dry land and taking to the water as a strategy to throw pursuing bloodhounds off one's trail.
The Gospel Train Song of the Free, and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot are equally supposed to contain veiled references to the Underground Railroad, and many sources assert that Follow the Drinking Gourd contained a coded map to the Underground Railroad (Meltzer, 1994:32).
Research conducted by Thomas (2001:15) divulges that the majority of the slave songs during the slave period provided motivation and inspiration for the ongoing struggle for freedom, a struggle which included systematic efforts to escape from bondage, as well as numerous slave-led revolts and insurrections.
Thomas (2001:15) further highlights the fact that the motivation to sing the slave songs, or plantation songs was inspired by ‘the African tradition, stories of their ancestors’ bravery, victories in battle, and success in overcoming past hardships,’ which often enabled the slaves to marshal inspiration to face their life’s challenges at the time. Smith (2008:9) reveals that when memories of ‘the heroic stories of well-known African ancestors faded with time, the slaves regarded the Old Testament’s Christian biblical heroes, such as Moses, Daniel, David, among others, as their religious ancestral equivalents’ (Smith, 2008:9). Thomas (2001:13) draws implicit comparisons between the plight of enslaved Africans, and that of enslaved Hebrews in the Bible. It is against this backdrop that the slave songs cried out for freedom in heaven, because ‘their true intent had to be phrased in language which was disguised from their oppressors, for fear of punishment’ (Meltzer, 1994:32)
In research conducted by Castellini (2013:5) the slave songs are described as a ‘consummate example of linguistically hidden transcripts’, and that,
Among the recurring characters of what he termed the slave songs were the oppressive Pharaoh and God’s favoured Israelites suffering in foreign bondage. Other favourites referenced biblical heroes like the warrior Joshua, or faithful underdogs such as Daniel in the lion’s den (Castellini, 2013:5).
2.2.1 Slave songs as work songs
Research conducted by Pershey (2000) reveals that slaves were allowed to sing the slave songs during their working time, as was the case when they had to coordinate their efforts for hauling fallen trees, or carrying heavy loads (Meltzer (1994:32). It was under such oppressive circumstances that work songs were composed and flourished, with cryptic messages and African idioms thrown in as the need arose and the lyrics changed with the
status quo (Pershey, 2000). These work songs eased their pain as they faced hard labour and humiliation by the slave masters.
2.2.2 Slave Songs for Communicating Information
Slave songs served as a form of communication for slaves in pre-civil war America (Pershey, 2000). Pershey (2000) adds that slave songs served the multipurpose of worshipping, communicating, or signalling information about escape routes, safe houses, and persons to trust. The songs Gospel Train, Get on Board, Little Children, Behold That Star, and This Little Light of Mine, are well known examples of songs that gave secret messages about finding the way to freedom (Pershey, 2000).
Due to the fact that in church the slaves could legitimately congregate, socialize, and safely express their feelings, it was in church where they could sing songs that had dual meanings, such as Deep River, which was used to plan meetings to discuss escape, and Wade in the Water which meant that a slave’s absence had been discovered (Pershey, 2000). Therefore, singing the song would communicate the message to other plantations with the hope that the runaway would hear it, know that the bloodhounds were after their scent, and escape into the river, in order to conceal their whereabouts, and hide any scent and tracks (Pershey, 2000).
Slave songs were often performed as interactive songs, which used the call and response form. A leader sang the main verse, the call, and a group sang the response (Du Bois, 1994;
Thomas, 2001; Smith, 2008). According to research (Pershey, 2000; Thomas, 2001; Bolton, 2006; Smith; 2008), an individual would coin the lyric of a new verse, to be answered by the group’s chorus. This impromptu ingenious linguistic skilfulness in musical form was perfect for sending information and updated messages during the struggle for emancipation (Bolton, 2006).
Further research (Jones, 2000; and Thomas, 2006) attests that other songs, such as Scandalize My Name or You Fight On, were sung to communicate social relations, character development, and how to relate to others.
2.2.3 Slave songs as Sorrow Songs
Slave songs were also called sorrow songs, and were sung to express deep suffering, endurance, and yearning for freedom in the peaceful kingdom of heaven, as they offered emotional release and psychic relief. Bolton (2006) declares that,
There is also a duality in the lyrics of Spirituals. They communicated many Christian ideals while also communicating the hardship that was a result of being an African-American slave. The Spiritual was often directly tied to the composer's life. It was a way of sharing religious, emotional, and physical experience through song (Bolton, 2006: 43).
These songs therefore expressed the harsh life that the slaves experienced far away from countries of their origin. They also articulated the nostalgia they experienced, which they could not openly epress, for fear of the wrath of the slave masters who did not tolerate any form of connection they had with their countries of origin (Bolton, 2006).
2.2.4 Slave Songs Adapted for the Civil Rights Movement
The slave songs were not only used as codes employed by the Underground Railroad, to help slaves escape to the north, but as Negro Spirituals, they also served as the integral part of the Civil Rights Movement, led by Martin Luther King.6 King explained in his 1964 book Why We Can’t Wait, that civil rights activists ‘sing the freedom songs today for the same reason the slaves sang them, because we too are in bondage and the songs add hope to our determination that ‘We shall overcome someday’ (Castellini, 2013:6).
Research by Kolchin (1995) further proclaims that King claims that freedom songs invigorated the movement in a most significant way, and served to give unity.
Mahalia Jackson7 who was dubbed the ‘Queen of Gospel’, and Nina Simone are two of many African-American women who championed the Civil Rights Movement through singing the Negro Spirituals. In 1963, when King delivered his famous ‘I have a dream’ speech, in
6 American Negro Spirituals Research Foundation, Clemmons, New York.
http://muskrat.middleburry.edu/It/cr/faculty/clemmons-
It/Francois/programs/moreprograms/America%20negro%Spirituals%class.pdf
7 Mahalia Jacson. www.theroot.com/multimedia/martin-luther-king-jr-playlist
Washington DC, Mahalia Jackson inspired the crowd by singing an old slave song, now regarded as a protest song, We Shall Overcome (Smith, 2008:10). This song was used to unite African-American communities during the Civil Rights Movement, and was genuinely inspirational. Another slave song entitled, Keep Your Eyes on the Prize performed by activist Alice Wine, was adapted for the Civil Rights Movement.8. Alice Wine adapted the language employed in some lyrics, specifically to express the plight of Civil Rights activists, and the message was about continuing the struggle despite adversity, about transcending oppression, and persevering, despite any obstacles that might arise in the struggle.
Nina Simone, is another Civil Rights Movement singer who was angered by the death of four black children in a bomb blast in the basement of a church in Birmingham, Alabama. In protest she formulated and sang the song Mississippi Goddam. Nina Simone ‘speaks not only of love, but of the black person’s pain and passion whipped to a swelling of rage, filling the sung phrases with her own spirit of rebellion’ (Smith, 2008:10).