Want to deepen your appreciation of gospel music—and maybe challenge what you think you know about race in American culture? Check out these resources—and let us know your recommendations!
UCC’s “Sacred Conversation on Race” resources
The next two offer some introductory historical context:
Christopher Klein, “Deeper Roots of Northern Slavery Unearthed”
“Black History in Wisconsin” Wisconsin Historical Society
The next three offer some thoughts on white privilege:
“Let’s Talk about Whiteness” Krista Tippett interviews Northwestern Univ. Professor Eula Boss
“What I Said When My White Friend Asked for My Black Opinion on White Privilege” OnBeing blog post by Lori Lakin Hutchinson
CodeSwitch. A blog written by seven NPR journalists who write about race, culture and ethnicity
And here are some miscellaneous links:
National Museum of African American History and Culture — Recommended by our partners at Safe Haven UCC in Queens, NY
African-American Sacred Music from the Florida Folklife Collection — Recordings by more- and less-known groups, collected by the Florida Memory Project
Baylor University’s Black Gospel Music Restoration Project — Collects “at risk” music and recordings. Some are available for audio download.
Interview (with musical examples!) on the historical development of Black Gospel with James Abbington of Emory University’s Candler School of Theology.
“Blacks, Gospel Music, and the Pursuit of Diversity in the American Church” (2012) — Gerardo Marti (Davidson College)