Spirituals, Work Songs and Gospels

For this weeks assignment I wanted to represent the essence of the songs. I listen to many of the spiritual and black gospels posted and while listening and contemplating the reading one song stood out to me, "Since I laid my burdens down" - John Hurt's Version. It was a song that we sang often at mass. I could only imaging in the context of slavery and segregation what the words of that song meant to the African American community. Though I am also of African decent I was raised in the Caribbean where racism is not as common. The Caribbean is predominantly black and never had I felt held back because of the color of my skin. However I would often feel hurt and appalled by the things that I saw going on in America and other parts of the world to colored people.

I think John Hurt's version of the song carried with it an immense understanding of the words. I could feel the emotion as he sang and the feelings of acceptance, freedom and peace touched me. I am sure these themes in the song and many of the other songs as well as the reading was so evident because it was and still is to some extent what the Black community in America longed for; Acceptance, Freedom and Peace. As the songs says.

"I feel better, so much better
Since I laid my burdens down.
I feel better, so much better
Since I laid my burdens down!"

So many of these issues are still being fought for today and in light of all this I wanted to do an expressive piece that I felt encapsulated all these emotions. In this piece I hoped to represent the richness of movement and longing for true freedom in the African American culture and history.