The official black spirituals thread......ongoing

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On a path of self rediscovery, I think it is valuable for us to connect to what was able to provide us with the strength to become the most resilient people the world has ever seen.

As a dedication to our fallen heroes, this thread is ongoing to capture and share the songs that helped us through.


I will share something with you that my mother shared with me.

The African was able to replicate the same vibrations using the words of the slave master.

We are a people who tune our energies using the vibration of sound.

So my mother taught us to use the same vibrational tones without the words.
You can hum it to take out what was put in for survival.


The African was able to mask what they were doing as a result of this adaptive survival mechanism.

You can see the same effect in religion i.e. adopting the slavemaster names of deities but meaning something else e.g. St Michael meaning Ogun


So I'll start.......

 

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Look Down That Long, Lonesome Road

My time, time so long. (hah)

Look down, (hah) look down,
That long, lonesome road,
where you (hah) and I, I must go.

Stand back, stand back
All you five [and] ten cent men:
Dollar man knocking on, on my door.

Hattie Bell, Hattie Bell,
O she's my own, own true love,
Darlin', what have, have I done?



The chief music-making instruments for slaves were their own voices. Singing together, alone, or in call-response patterns, slaves improvised, altered, and embellished, creating sounds rich in tone and texture.



http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/experience/education/feature1.html

 

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Voices from the Days of Slavery


The Library of Congress > American Memory Home > Browse Collections

The almost seven hours of recorded interviews presented here took place between 1932 and 1975 in nine Southern states.
Twenty-three interviewees, born between 1823 and the early 1860s, discuss how they felt about slavery, slaveholders, coercion of slaves, their families, and freedom. Several individuals sing songs, many of which were learned during the time of their enslavement. It is important to note that all of the interviewees spoke sixty or more years after the end of their enslavement, and it is their full lives that are reflected in these recordings. The individuals documented in this presentation have much to say about living as African Americans from the 1870s to the 1930s, and beyond.
All known recordings of former slaves in the American Folklife Center are included in this presentation. Some are being made publicly available for the first time and several others already available now include complete transcriptions. Unfortunately, not all the recordings are clearly audible. Although the original tapes and discs are generally in good physical condition, background noise and poorly positioned microphones make it extremely difficult to follow many of the interviews.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/voices/index.html