By Nathan Johnson, Contributing Writer
There are many historic events that changed the African American culture in the early days. Those events included great music.
According to bostoncommunity.org, in the 18th Century, when gospel music was getting started, it was illegal for African Americans to worship on their own. They had to attend their master’s services. There, they learned the traditional hymns that became the backdrop of the music used at their secret worship meetings.
African Americans, in expression, are a “rebellious” culture with the Gospel Church playing a fundamental role in its history.
There were two African American singers that greatly influenced African Americans in music.
One of those singers was Mahalia Jackson. Jackson, also known as “The Queen of Gospel,” started the gospel style back in 1927. Her famous hit was a song called, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord.” Jackson had an amazing opportunity to sing that famous hit before Martin Luther King’s Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in 1965.
Jackson pushed the boundaries in her time, becoming a gospel superstar across racial, gender, and ethnic divides both at home and in the world. Her boldness and dazzling fervor left its trailblazing mark for years to come, reminding everyone of music’s impact and power and the strength of both African Americans and women.
Another gospel legend was “The King of Gospel,” Reverend Dr. James Cleveland. Cleveland attended Pilgrim Baptist Church, where he was a member of the choir along with his grandmother.
Cleveland received four Grammys. He mesmerized his audience and brought a standard of excellence to gospel music. He continued his work of excellence by organizing in 1968 the Gospel Music Workshop of America, the largest gospel convention in the world.
This is just a taste of the great impact these two artists, and several more similar artists, have made on the history of black culture and on the world through the power of music. It’s an early African American tradition that has continued to expand and ensure that the black history education deeply rooted within it stays alive long after the month of February ends.
For more information on the Gospel Music Workshop of America, visit www.gmwanational.net.
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http://westlibertylive.com/thetrumpet/?p=4756