We Look Back and Sing!: A History of the Spirituals

Many years ago, during the slave trade, people were taken away from their families and all they knew in Africa. As the slaves lay shackled in the holds of ships and traveled unwillingly to American soil, they moaned, grunted, and cried. But despite their sorrow, the slaves had not forgotten the music and beats of their African homeland. It was not long before their moans and cries were transformed into original folk melodies now known as spirituals. Willie Mae Jordan, a well-known mezzo-sop...