Spirituals, Work Songs and Gospels II

In the reading for spirituals this week it spoke about gospel being to slaves an escape and brought them hope. through the words of today song Oh Mary don't week weep i got a sense of that. influenced by the stories of the bible the song attempt to draw a comparison between the enslaving of the Israelite by the Egyptians to the enslaving of Black men and women in America. Pharaohs army drowns in the red see and the Israelite are free. I think the slaves of the time sang this song hoping that one day God will free them from their oppressors as well.

The racial problems going on in America right now are extremely saddening. I am of African descent myself however being a Caribbean woman I grew up in the majority. In the Caribbean however we often don't have racial issues. their isn't a divide between people of African, European, Asian of Spanish decent everyone is just considered a Caribbean person once you are from there. In America however that is very different. In fact growing up I was only aware of racism from what I heard on the news going on in America.

While listening to this song, I was saddened that it is still in a sense applicable to the social issues going on in America today. With that said Harriet Tubman came to mind. Not only was she an American hero but she like Moses led many black slaves to freedom. I chose to do a drawing of her using white on dark brown paper I wanted to capture her African features and her strength and determination through simple line work and light shading. I believe that she represents what those slave who sang "Oh Mary don't you weep" hoped for, freedom.