For the NNPA
DALLAS – Watching a group of 16 young black men and women singing Negro spirituals may not give one an immediate impression of being before history makers, but think again. Black history, in the form of the Fisk University Jubilee Singers, recently stopped by the Christian Chapel of Faith in North Dallas.
“They are truly the first ambassadors of Fisk University,” said Hazel R. O’Leary, Fisk University’s president, a former Secretary of Energy under the Bill Clinton administration. “But equally important, this genre of music, this spirit, is replicated repeatedly throughout the world and through all forms of music.”
About 600 attendees at Christian Chapel enjoyed the intricate, melodious skills of the a capella group as they broke down many of the classic and historic Negro hymns with harmonious perfection. Perhaps the group’s most notable alumna is Mandisa Hundley, a 2006 American Idol finalist.
Director Paul Kwami said, “These songs are still alive today and they’re songs of power because of the words.”
Kwami said though Negro spirituals were created during slavery, “these songs did not include a single word of hatred.”
Historically, Negro spirituals served several different purposes. Chanted by the slave workers, they helped the workday pass. More significantly, they were used as code signals when organized efforts to escape from bondage were planned. Negro spirituals like “Wade in the Water,” “The Gospel Train” and “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” referred to the Underground Railroad.
“Music is a universal language. It doesn’t matter what genre you use, as long as you touch the heart of the audience you’re entertaining,” said Joyce Sallier, CFO of Music World Entertainment. Sallier was representing her boss, Matthew Knowles, the father and manager of entertainer Beyonce Knowles and architect behind Destiny’s Child. A Fisk graduate, he was scheduled to receive a special honor as Entrepreneur of the Year from the Fisk Alumni Association. He fell ill and was unable to attend.
Former slaves founded Fisk University, based in Nashville, in 1866. But within five years, it looked like it was going to succumb to the economic depression of the times and would have to close it doors.
Enter George L. White, the school’s music professor. He had nurtured nine young men and women into a choir, which had learned to give their special edge to the deeply emotional Negro spirituals. They began to perform in front of both black and white audiences to raise funds. The Fisk University Jubilee Singers went on to raise over $150,000 ($2.3 million in today’s money), saving the university.
Nashville is known to many people as the “Music City,” a name given to Nashville because of the historic reputation and contributions of the Fisk University Jubilee Singers.
Over the years, the Jubilee Singers have traveled the world. They were performing in Cincinnati on October 8, 1871, the night of the Great Chicago Fire. They turned their $50 in earnings that night over to the Chicago Relief Fund and went on to their next engagement in Columbus, Ohio. According to fiskjubileesingers.org, “When they reached Columbus, the next city on tour, the students were physically and emotionally drained. Mr. White, in a gesture of hope and encouragement, named them ‘The Jubilee Singers,’ a Biblical reference to the year of Jubilee in the Book of Leviticus, Chapter 25.”
Kwami, a Jubilee Singer alum (1983-85), attributes the roots of Negro spirituals to the music makers in the villages of Africa, which is why, when the group travels to Ghana later in the year, he’ll consider it as a form of payback.
“We’ll take these songs back home and share them with those who probably created them,” Kwami said, “and we’ll have the opportunity to say, ‘Thank you.’”