This site requires Javascript to be turned on. Please enable Javascript and reload the page.

Will the Circle Be Unbroken?: The Sacred Music of the African American Diaspora

Exhibit 07- The Evolution of African American Music

This case contains books and albums that record a wide cross section of African American music and the musicians who popularized them from spirituals through gospel, ragtime, jazz, and modern pop. The artists in this case were trailbreakers for the musicians that came after them, making music so extraordinary it was impossible to ignore, regardless of race. Many of the modern variations of these genres are made up of earlier forms that have been merged and remixed, creating new styles for old stories. Part of the "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" exhibit at California State University Dominguez Hills. Photo by Beth McDonald, February 2020.

This page is referenced by:

From Spirituals to Soul
African American music has always been characterized by the ever-changing circumstances of African American life. Africans brought to the United States as slaves brought their musical traditions with them. Many of their activities, from work to worship, were rooted in song. As African American slaves were Christianized, their songs evolved to incorporate Christian hymns and psalms, resulting in the spiritual, which served as a way to express the community's new faith, as well as its sorrows and hopes. After the Civil War, as freed African Americans moved north and west to work in the industrial and railway industries, the agricultural songs of the slave era developed to suit these situations. These new songs eventually gave birth to the gospel and the blues, whose influence can be heard across genres from soul to rock’n’roll and R&B. In the early 20th century, the melding of African American musical traditions with music from other parts of the world led to an explosion of musical styles, including ragtime, jazz, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, funk, and disco. During the 80s and 90s, the emergence of hip-hop and rap took African American musical traditions in new directions, drawing on the legacy of old forms to create a distinctive art form as grounded in social protest as the early spirituals. Modern African American artists and musicians continue to rediscover, remix, and reinvent their musical history in ways that have a profound impact on the shape of musical culture of the United States.

Materials in this exhibit:
Music of the Revolution: Sacred Music and Protest From the colonial period to the present day Americans have often practiced their right to freedom of speech through song. Music is used to call attention to social causes and provides a means of personal commentary on societal issues. Songs are easily shared, convey emotion, and can be performed in many contexts, with or without instrumentation. Their message can be direct or implied, giving power to people who may be socially constrained. For all of these reasons, music is historically one of the most powerful tools of African Americans in resisting and protesting oppression and inequality.

The spirituals of American slaves are one of the earliest examples of music as protest. Slaves could not directly express the desire to be free; instead, they sang songs based on the Old Testament stories that related to their condition. The songs were more than entertainment for plantation overseers or expressions of sadness. At its core, a slave’s singing was an act of protest, a momentary respite from the environment that allowed them to be enslaved.

After the Civil War, prison laborers replaced slave labor. The majority of these laborers were African American, particularly in the South. The spirituals of the slave era were repurposed to complain about their plight, protesting prison conditions and unequal treatment. Many of these work songs have the qualities of both early spirituals and the blues. Blues music traces its roots to the spirituals, work songs, and chants of African American culture, evolving to reflect new social circumstances while maintaining its core as a means of expression and commentary.

One of the most notable examples of this is Billie Holiday’s 1939 song “Strange Fruit.” Originally a poem written by Abel Meeropol, “Strange Fruit” was written in reaction to the lynching of African American men in the 1930s. Meeropol later set his poem to music, and Holiday famously sang the song to close her performances. The song was so controversial that her recording company, Columbia, refused to record it for fear of retaliation. Unlike the protest songs of the Civil War era, “Strange Fruit” wasn’t a chant or a call to arms. It was a pointed commentary on the state of the country, which drew in listeners with its rich melody and commanded their attention with its vivid lyrics.

Slave spirituals and evolving styles of African American music also greatly influenced the creation of the Freedom Songs during the Civil Rights Movement. “We Shall Overcome” is one example of a Civil Rights Movement anthem that is still sung at protests today. Influenced by early 20th century gospel music, this version was arranged by Zilphia Horton, a union organizer who turned several hymns into protest songs used by the Civil Rights Movement. In addition to “We Shall Overcome,” Horton and Fannie Lou Hamer revived “This Little Light of Mine,” to apply to the Civil Rights Movement. Other songs that drove the African American Civil Rights movement include“Wade in the Water,” "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," "Peace Like a River," and "Amazing Grace."

Modern protests such as Black Lives Matter and the National School Walkout took their cues from the protests of the past, using both songs that drove the Civil Rights Movement and more recent music that blend references to the struggle for civil rights with 21st-century conflicts such as "Make Them Hear You" from the musical Ragtime , "Glory," from the 2014 film Selma, and popular music from artists such as Kendrick Lamar and Janelle Monaé. Much of modern African American popular music carries the essence of African American sacred and protest music, intertwining spirituals, work chants, blues, and gospel.

Related materials in the collections: