Edwin Hawkins, 2015

Gospel music through time has transcended its role as something purely belonging to the Christian church, positioning itself as a way of consolation that can be mutually felt throughout the diaspora. Pre colonial gospel sounds blended spirituality, storytelling and indigenous rhythms first found in the African continent as early as the 1st century, with colonization seeing the influence of Western sound and hymns mainly brought in by European and American missionaries, leading to the formation of choral choirs reflecting the Protestant and Orthodox movements. The story of new gospel and its relationship with blackness is one which reflects an odyssey of pain, hope and joy - here we explore the black history of North American gospel music.

The foundation of gospel music on the American (Northern) continent like the foundation of the majority of things on the American continent is one built on a history of slavery and survival. African American spirituals inspired by the sounds and cultures which existed in the societies they knew before, were created through holding informal gatherings where folk songs echoing biblical stories and the tragedies of slavery were sung. Figures like Sam Lucas or pieces like Rock My Soul In The Bosom of Abraham offered personal accounts of identity, faith and heritage. The details which exist in the structure of gospel music is not something separate to that of the spiritual, attributes like call and response were central to the sounds of spirituals in a world where enslaved people sang field hollers whilst working with the tempo often reflecting that of the work being completed.

In the 18th and 19th centuries the 'Great Awakening' saw the mass conversion of people from traditional spirituality practices to Christian denominations and as time grew Baptist and Methodist ministers began to appeal more to the enslaved and freed black populations. The stories of biblical and physical bondage continued, with spirituals like Wade In the Water according to certain historical accounts being created based on instruction to fugitive slaves regarding how to avoid capture.

Spirituals allowed a source of comfort for the new American population, a way to build a sense of hope in a community bound together by tragedy and torture. Through the existing reality of violence perpetrated in the name of Christianity the purpose of the spirituals created were to provide a mental escape from the calamity that was life. The blatant hypocrisy of Christianity at the hands of white slave masters led to the creation of the Pentecostal and segregated churches which due to an existing growing culture that embraced music as a part of worship, continued to weave it into sermons through the use of instruments like tambourines, string or brass.

Following the turn of the century the Northern migration of African Americans from the South saw a new blending of culture and religious practice leading Chicago to become the new central point for gospel. Spiritual hymns were combined with instrumentals and rural blues creating a new sound with Thomas Dorsey adding elements of jazz in his compositions. As the son of a Georgian baptist preacher Dorsey, who is now regarded as the father of gospel music, was met with a hard wall when attempting to introduce his new sound to churches due to its association with more secular sounds, i.e., ragtime. His pieces blended with the musical ear of Mahalia Jackson created a new vision that was spread with the likeminded pioneers of gospel music and by the 60s gospel has been introduced to the pop chart through songs like Edwin Hawkins 1969 O Happy Day.

Gospel music in all its forms has always allowed a voice to the voiceless in situations where it seemed impossible. The history of marginalization at the hands of oppressors whose actions were defended by a distorted understanding of Christian principles, led to a new understanding of faith and way to express and find comfort in that faith. Through thick and thin, trauma and joy gospel musics character of comfort is something which is felt in a very cross-diasporic manner. Whether the idea of religion and faith is shared the matter of gospel being a source and way of finding solace in the experience of life is something that can be universally understood. With centuries worth of cross-continental historical violence the black affinity to gospel music is something that will never waver. 

Writers note: "I acknowledge that there is a lot of nuance missing in this. The aim is to offer a brief understanding of the very complex history of gospel music, hopefully opening conversation about its relevance and cultural significance today."