When the Spirit Says Sing!: A Brief History of African Slave Songs in the Americas

When the Spirit Says Sing! tells the fascinating story of spirituals and their relationship to enslaved people of the United States, the Bahamas, and Mexico. It begins with the voyage from Africa as it explores the earliest remnants of African song, surviving in America as the ring shout, native to South Carolina and Georgia.

Most of the spirituals mentioned in the book, including ring shouts, are accompanied by printed lyrics and suggestions for listening on the web. Performers recommended ...