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Nothing but Love in God’s Water: Volume 2: Black Sacred Music from Sit-Ins to Resurrection City
Volume 1 of Nothing but Love in God’s Water traced the music of protest spirituals from the Civil War to the American labor movement of the 1930s and 1940s, and on through the Montgomery bus boycott. This second volume continues the journey, chronicling the role this music played in energizing and sustaining those most heavily involved in the civil rights movement.
Robert Darden, former gospel music editor for Billboard magazine and the founder of the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project at Baylor University, brings this vivid, vital story to life. He explains why black sacred music helped foster community within the civil rights movement and attract new adherents; shows how Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders used music to underscore and support their message; and reveals how the songs themselves traveled and changed as the fight for freedom for African Americans continued. Darden makes an unassailable case for the importance of black sacred music not only to the civil rights era but also to present-day struggles in and beyond the United States.
Taking us from the Deep South to Chicago and on to the nation’s capital, Darden’s grittily detailed, lively telling is peppered throughout with the words of those who were there, famous and forgotten alike: activists such as Rep. John Lewis, the Reverend Ralph Abernathy, and Willie Bolden, as well as musical virtuosos such as Harry Belafonte, Duke Ellington, and The Mighty Wonders. Expertly assembled from published and unpublished writing, oral histories, and rare recordings, this is the history of the soundtrack that fueled the long march toward freedom and equality for the black community in the United States and that continues to inspire and uplift people all over the world.
Bernice Johnson Reagon, photographed by Dane A. Penland in 1981, was one of the leaders of the Albany Movement, an extraordinary song-leader and activist, she later became one of the foremost scholars on African American protest music. Courtesy Smithsonian Institution Archives, Historic Images of the Smithsonian, #81-15021-20A.
John Lewis (left), Archie E. Allen, and other students representing the Nashville Christian Leadership Council protest on Jefferson Street in Nashville during the Freedom March, March 23, 1963. Nashville Banner Archives, courtesy the Nashville Public Library Digital Collection.
Commissioner of Public Safety Theophilius E.“Bull” Connor was the most ardent – and dangerous – foe of the civil rights movement in Birmingham in April and May of 1963. Birmingham Post-Herald Photographs. Courtesy of the Birmingham Public Library.
Under the watchful eye of a North Carolina state trooper, African Americans sing protest songs and clap their hands on the lawn of the Executive Mansion in Raleigh, NC, 1963. State Library of North Carolina, North Carolina Digital Collections, Civil Rights. Courtesy of The News & Observer and State Archives of North Carolina.
Emergency personnel on the street in front of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church following the bombing on September 15, 1963 that killed four young girls. Birmingham Post-Herald Photographs, courtesy the Birmingham Public Library.
Led by James Bevel (second from right), demonstrators protest the segregated Post House Restaurant inside the Greyhound Bus Station in Nashville, March 3, 1960. Nashville Banner Archives, courtesy of the Nashville Public Library Digital Collection.
Guy Carawan leads the singing of freedom songs at a mass meeting at Fisk University in Nashville on April 21, 1960. The meeting was held to protest the bombing of the home of African American attorney Z. Alexander Looby. The photographer also identifies Matthew Walker (far left), Peggi Alexander, and John Lewis (far right). Nashville Banner Archives, courtesy of the Nashville Public Library Digital Collection.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Kelly Miller Smith confer as an unknown singer performs at Fisk University in Nashville on April 21, 1960, following the bombing of the home of African American attorney, Z. Alexander Looby. It is during this speech that King said, "We will say, ‘Do what you will to us, but we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer.’" Nashville Banner Archives, courtesy of the Nashville Public Library Digital Collection.
In 1963, a group of African American and white protesters march down a Raleigh sidewalk at night, clapping and singing freedom songs. State Library of North Carolina. North Carolina Digital Collections, Civil Rights. Courtesy of The News & Observer and State Archives of North Carolina.
Freedom Singers Chuck Neblett (left) and Matthew Jones listen to the music and teaching in a Hattiesburg church during the Freedom Summer, July 1964. McCain Library and Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi. Randall (Herbert) Freedom Summer photograph.
Free Southern Theater guitarist Roger Johnson crosses his arms and joins hands with legendary folk singer and activist Pete Seeger to sing “We Shall Overcome” at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, August 4, 1964, during the Freedom Summer in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Courtesy of Miami University Libraries. Carole Gross Colca Collection, Miami University Digital Archives, Oxford, OH.
Legendary singer/activist Fannie Lou Hamer and others singing while walking in support of the Mississippi “March Against Fear,” begun by James Meredith in June 1966. Alabama Department of Archives and History, Jim Peppler Southern Courier Photograph Collection.
Johnson’s office is the site of a meeting on the day the Voting Rights Act was signed, August 6, 1965, with the President are two unidentified men, John Lewis and James Farmer. Photography by Yoichi Okamoto. Photograph courtesy of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, LBJ Collection.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Andrew Young compare notes while a choir sings during a church meeting in Greenville, Alabama in December 1965. Alabama Department of Archives and History, Jim Peppler Southern Courier Photograph Collection.
Activist Edward Rudolph and others standing and singing on the porch of the Autauga County Improvement Association office in Prattville, Alabama, on the day of a civil rights march, June 29, 1967. Alabama Department of Archives and History, Jim Peppler Southern Courier Photograph Collection.
The Freedom Singers (from left): Rutha Mae Harris, Bernice Johnson (partially hidden), Cordell Reagon and Charles Neblett are joined by Pete Seeger (far right) in performance at the 1963 Newport Jazz Festival. Photograph copyright Daniel Gomez-Ibanez, 1963. The Mark Levy Collection, Miami University Archives, Oxford, OH and The Civil Rights Archives of the Queens College/CUNY. http://digital.lib.miamioh.edu/fs/.
Fannie Lou Hamer singing to a group of people in Mississippi during the James Meredith-inspired “March Against Fear,” June 1966. Alabama Department of Archives and History, Jim Peppler Southern Courier Photograph Collection.
Ralph Abernathy, Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King Jr., Floyd McKissick and others participating in the “March Against Fear” in Mississippi, June 1966. Alabama Department of Archives and History, Jim Peppler Southern Courier Photograph Collection.
Mavis Staples and the Staple Singers were favorites among civil rights activists. Forty years later, Mavis was still singing Freedom Songs. Picture taken at the Alladin Theater in Portland in October 2004 by photographer Bob Gersztyn. Photo courtesy of Bob Gersztyn.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (left) marching with CORE’s Floyd B. McKissick and an unidentified man in July 1966. Courtesy of University of Memphis Libraries and Special Collections Department.
From the office of the Rev. Clay Evans, a photograph of the signing between Operation Breadbasket and the A&P grocery store chain to employ more African-American workers. King (third from left) and Jesse Jackson, who spear-headed Operation Breadbasket (second from right) were party to the signing, along with representatives from A&P. Photographs courtesy of the Rev. Clay Evans.
In Memphis, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. walks with marchers in early April 1968. Courtesy of University of Memphis Libraries and Special Collections Department.
Longtime financial supporter and King family friend Harry Belafonte walks with other mourners during the funeral procession for Martin Luther King in Atlanta, April 9, 1968. Alabama Department of Archives and History, Jim Peppler Southern Courier Photograph Collection.
Stokley Carmichael, his wife singer Miriam Makeba, and activist Cleveland Sellers (dark glasses) walk down Atlanta’s Auburn Avenue with mourners during the funeral procession for Martin Luther King Jr, April 9, 1968. Alabama Department of Archives and History, Jim Peppler Southern Courier Photograph Collection.
Ralph Abernathy leads the funeral service for Martin Luther King Jr. at South View Cemetery. Also participating are Benjamin Mays (left) and Fred Shuttlesworth, April 9, 1968. Alabama Department of Archives and History, Jim Peppler Southern Courier Photograph Collection.
Participants from Nashville board buses in May 8, 1969, to join the Poor People’s Campaign in Washington D.C. Nashville Banner Archives, courtesy the Nashville Public Library Digital Collection.
A Birmingham Police Department photograph of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (to right of center) talking to his best friend and closest aide Ralph Abernathy at the A. G. Gaston Hotel on Fifth Avenue North in Birmingham. The man to the left of Abernathy, with his back to the camera, appears to be the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth. Birmingham Post-Herald Photographs. Courtesy of the Birmingham Public Library.
Two Mississippi Freedom Summer volunteers clap and sing Freedom Songs. Image Courtesy: The Mark Levy Collection, Miami University Archives, Oxford, OH and The Civil Rights Archives of the Queens College/CUNY. http://digital.lib.miamioh.edu/fs/.
Pete Seeger leaving a concert in a church in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on July 14, 1964. Notes accompanying the photograph indicate that the temperature reached 100 degrees inside the church that day during heat of the Mississippi Freedom Summer. Wisconsin Historical Society, WHS-97481.
SNCC staffers, including Fannie Lou Hamer (far right) and Chuck Neblett (center) address Mississippi Freedom Summer volunteers in the Western College for Women auditorium, June 1964. McCain Library and Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi. Randall (Herbert) Freedom Summer photograph.
Activist/author/folksinger Julius Lester plays guitar and teaches Freedom Songs with Freedom School students at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Hattiesburg during the Freedom Summer of 1964. McCain Library and Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi. Randall (Herbert) Freedom Summer photograph.
Following a performance of In White America by the Free Southern Theater, actors, singers and residents of Hattiesburg join hands and sing “We Shall Overcome” in True Light Baptist Church. The Free Southern Theater toured throughout Mississippi during the Freedom Summer of 1964. McCain Library and Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi. Randall (Herbert) Freedom Summer photograph.
Two unidentified women clapping and singing Freedom Songs at the Freedom School Convention on August 8, 1964 in Meridian, Mississippi. Wisconsin Historical Society, WHS-98834.
Photographer Yoichi Okamoto catches Martin Luther King with a rare smile during a meeting with President Johnson on the proposed Civil Rights Act legislation. Photographed January 19, 1964 in the Cabinet Room. Photographs courtesy of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, LBJ Collection.
Flanked by portraits of murdered civil rights workers James Earl Chaney and Andrew Goodman, an unidentified man in Atlantic City, New Jersey, sings Freedom Songs during a nighttime demonstration at the Democratic National Convention in August 1964. The photograph is from the records of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Wisconsin Historical Society, WHS-98097.
Carole (Gross) Colca (center, looking at camera), along with local residents and children and other civil rights workers, clapping and singing Freedom Songs during the Mississippi Freedom Summer. Courtesy of Miami University Libraries. Carole Gross Colca Collection, Miami University Digital Archives, Oxford, OH.
Folksinger “Folksy” Joe Harrison entertains Hattiesburg Freedom School students during the Freedom Summer of 1964. McCain Library and Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi. Randall (Herbert) Freedom Summer photograph.
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