Download African American and Afro Cuban Spirituals

African American and Afro
Cuban Spirituals
Ms. Pennell
Eleventh Grade American Literature
Brookwood High School
Spirituals
 Spirituals are folk songs that originated among the
enslaved and the oppressed African Americans. They
are one of the earliest and one of the most widely
known forms of American folk song to have survived
to the twenty-first century.
 Spirituals took the forms of ballads, shouts, and
jubilees to reflect different moods and circumstances
prevalent in the lives of the slaves.
Spirituals
 Containing both social and religious
content, spirituals helped to shape the
conscious identity of an enslaved people.
 They also helped slaves persevere under the
physical and psychological pressures of their
daily lives.
 The songs contained the singers’ pain, their
yearning for freedom, and their rage against
slavery.
Spirituals
 These singers and these songs brought to life the
emotional impact of slavery.
 Slavery divided our nation for decades and was
instrumental in bringing about the Civil War.
 Frederick Douglass, a slave who became one of the
most important writers of his time, said of the
spirituals:
 “Every tone was a testimony against slavery
and a testimony to God for deliverance from
chains.”
Spirituals
 While playing an important role in bringing
to light the evils of slavery, the spirituals also
served the role of replacing lost African
religious traditions.
 This allowed the slaves to maintain a
connection to their musical heritage.
The History of the Negro Spiritual
Before 1865
 Almost all the first Africans who arrived in the New
World were slaves. They came from several regions of
the African West Coast.
 Their ways of living were described by slaves
themselves in the slave narratives. We read an excerpt
from Olaudah Equiano’s slave narrative early last
semester.
 In Equiano’s narrative, we were introduced to some of
the horrors African Americans faced while being
stolen from Africa, surviving the passage from Africa
to the Americas, and sold into slavery.
Negro Spirituals and the Lives of
the Slaves
 All slaves were allowed to worship Christianity on the
condition that there was a white person present
presiding over the ceremonies.
 All religious practices from Africa were banned and
made illegal.
 Slavery was an important issue facing Churches, as
slaves were allowed to meet for Christian services.
Some Christian ministers, such as J.D. Long, wrote
against slavery.
History of the Spirituals
 Rural slaves used to stay after the regular worship services,
in churches or in plantation “praise houses”, for singing and
dancing. But, slaveholders did not allow dancing and the
playing of drums, as was their usual custom in Africa. They
also had meetings at secret places (“camp meetings”, “bush
meetings”), because they needed to meet one another and
share their joys, pains and hopes.
 In rural meetings, thousands slaves would gather and listen
to itinerant preachers, and sing spirituals, for hours. In the
late 1700s, they sang the precursors of spirituals, which
were called “corn ditties”.
History of the Spirituals
 So, in rural areas, spirituals were sung, mainly outside
of churches. In cities, in about 1850, the Protestant
City-Revival Movement created a new song genre,
which was popular; for revival meetings organized by
this movement, temporary tents were erected in
stadiums, where the attendants could sing.
 At church, hymns and psalms were sung during
services. Some of them were transformed into songs of
a typical African American form: the spiritual. Many of
the hymns or lyrics used in the songs were written by
the famous Dr. Isaac Watts.
Historical Accounts of Slaves at
Worship
 By the law of the state, no colored persons are permitted to
assemble for worship, unless a white person be present and
preside....at this time, two whites and two blacks were in
the pulpit. One of the blacks......gave out Dr. Watt's
beautiful Psalm, "show pity, Lord; oh Lord, forgive," etc.
They all rose immediately.
 They have no books, for they could not read; but it was
printed on their memory, and they sang it off with freedom
and feeling. There is a much melody in their voices; and
when they enjoy a hymn, there is a raised expression of the
face, and an undulating motion of the body, keeping time
with the music, which is very touching......"
Secret Churches
 This rich oral tradition of religious songs had its
earliest beginnings in the early church, camp
meetings, and the invisible churches. The following is
a detailed report written by a member of a deputation
from the congregational Union of England and Wales:
 The building, called a church, is without the town, and
placed in a hollow, so as to be out of sight ... It is a poor
log house, built by the hands of Negroes, and so placed
as to show that they must worship by stealth. It is,
perhaps 20 by 25; with boarding and rails breast-high,
run around three sides, so as to form galleries. To this is
added a lean-to, to take the overplus ... The place was
quite full, the women and men were arranged on
opposite sides.
Characteristics of Spirituals
 The rich drumming traditions of the African slaves
were viewed with suspicion and banned by slave
owners who feared that they would be used as a form
of communication between the slaves.
 In the Caribbean, in countries like Cuba and Haiti,
drumming and ring shouts were permitted. The drums
were used as prayers to evoke African deities such as
Chango, Elegua, Yemaya, and others.
Bembés and Other Cultural
Crossings
 What were known as ring shouts in the colonies or the
United States were known as Bembés in the
Caribbean.
 Santeria, a fusion of Catholicism and the Yoruba
religion from what we know now as Nigeria, was
developed by the slaves in Cuba and other nations in
the Caribbean and Latin America.
 The slaves used images from the Catholic church to
associate certain saints with specific African gods.
Bembé: The Rhythm of The Saints
 A bembé is a party for the orishas. During a bembé the orishas are
praised, saluted and entreated to join the party through mounting one
of the priests(esses) in attendance. This is done through a confluence of
the song, rhythm, and movement, all calling to the orisha in such a way
that the orishas will recognize themselves in the lyrics, rhythms and
dances as they have been performed for them for perhaps thousands of
years.
 The rhythms play an important part of the equation and the drummers
practice assiduously for years to be able to play the intricate rhythms
correctly. This is important since the drums are actually speaking to the
orishas as the Yoruba language is a tonal one and the drums are tuned in
such a way as to play the tones of Yoruba speech. For this reason some
rhythms are never played unless it is in religious context as it would
offend the orishas. These rhythms are actually prayers to the deities with
each orisha having its own rhythms associated with him or her.
Bembé: The Rhythm of The Saints
 Dance also becomes prayer in the religious context of a
bembé. The movements of the dances are the same
motions associated with the orishas for thousands of years.
As with the rhythms played on the drums, each orisha has
its own dances with Yemayá's dance emulating the motion
of the waves, Ogún's chopping with his machete, Oshún's
portraying her primping in front of her hand held mirror,
etc. Therefore, these movements become more danced
prayers than what the Western European would refer to as
dance.
 Everything present at a bembé whether it is song, dance,
rhythm or colors used, becomes part of an intricate fabric
of prayer saluting, praising and calling to the orishas and
asking them to be present.
The Birth of a New Religious Practice
 An example of the
slaves in the
Caribbean
embedding African
gods under the safety
of the images of
Catholic saints can be
seen with Saint
Lazarus and Elegua,
the Yoruba god of the
crossroads.
Yemaya: Virgen de Regla
 Another popular example of the Yoruba religious presence in
the Caribbean is with the goddess Yemaya.
 Mother of life and all orishas, she is the owner of the waters and
represents the sea (in the coast, because in the depths of Olokun
reigns). Her punishments are hard and her anger terrible, although
she acts with justice. She symbolizes perfection, hard work,
subordinate occupations, service, health, efficiency and tame
animals.
Yemaya
 She is a major orisha. She
was Babalú Ayé, Agayú,
Orula and Oggúns wife.
She likes hunting and to
handle the machete. She is
untamable and clever. Seven
is her number and her day is
Saturday. Her colors are blue
and white.
Yemaya
 For that reason her elegant
dress is intense blue, the
same as the beads of her
necklace which alternated
with transparent ones.
The animals sacrificed to
her are the ram, the
rooster, the pigeons, the
guineo (a type of fruit),
the turtle, the duck, the
hen, the parrot, the goose,
the quail.
 Yemayá is friend of good company and splendor. Although
she is a virtuous and wise mother, she is also cheerful.
Protects against afflictions related to the person’s stomach
or those that imply damage or death through the fresh
water or the sea, rains or humidity.
Do Not Make Yemaya Angry …
 The Yemayá foods are the Ochinchin (stew
shrimps, capers, boiled eggs, beet and
tomato), ekó ( corn tamal that remains the
whole day into water, then it is milled in a
morta.
 It is cooked in a pan with no fat or salt while
beating it, is given a pyramid form and then
wrapped up in fresh banana leaves) , olelé
(soak some caritas beans into water, remove
their the skin by scratching it, then make a
pasta and add some salt, cut some garlic and
onions and also add pieces of ginger to the
dough. Fry in hot fat with a little bag of
annatto).
Be Careful … Her Dishes Are
Complicated!
 When its very hot, pour it on the
dough of beans that had been
previously beaten. Stuff this pasta
into papers molds) She also has
okra with rolls made of plantain or
roots, black beans cooked with no
broth or corn, roasted maize meal
with syrup, burnt coconut, four
whole fishermen in a white plate
with blue line, syrup, palm tree nut
and husk, cress, lettuce, endive,
beet and chayote.
If you make a mistake …
 When she is angry she must
have cress, lettuce, chayote and
purslane, to refresh her otá.
 Her favorite fruit is the water
melon, although she favors
pineapples, papayas, grapes,
water pears, apples, bananas
and oranges.
Other Aspects of African Culture
Banned During Slavery
 After regular a worship service, congregations used to
stay for a “ring shout”. Ring shouts are derived from
primitive African dance. So, educated ministers and
members placed a ban on it.
 The men and women would arrange themselves in a
ring. The music would start, perhaps with a Spiritual,
and the ring would begin to move, at first slowly, then
with quickening pace. The same musical phrase was
repeated over and over for hours. This produced an
ecstatic state. Women screamed and fell. Men,
exhausted, dropped out of the ring
Characteristics of Spirituals
 Singing, particularly the singing of spirituals, was
tolerated and even considered a good thing. Firstly, it
added rhythm to the slaves’ work which improved
productivity.
 Secondly, the owners who considered themselves ‘good
Christians’ were glad to hear pious music being sung
in their plantations.
Covert Meanings Embedded in
Lyrics
 However, many of the spirituals were used to pass on
coded messages. Words such as ‘chariot’ and ‘train’
referred to a train of people who would hide slaves as
they made their way to freedom. The ‘river Jordan’
often referred to the Ohio river. ‘Canaan’ meant
Canada and ‘Follow the drinking gourd’ meant follow
the star formation (shaped like a hollowed-out gourd)
that included the North star.
Covert Meanings Embedded in the
Lyrics of the Spirituals
 Many spirituals had a double meaning. Most included
references to people, places, or even events in the
Bible.
 They frequently referred to Moses, who in the Old
Testament led the Jews out of slavery in Egypt. Slaves
identified with the Israelites, who had once been the
slaves of the Egyptians. Singing about the Israelites
was a safe way to voice their own yearning for liberty.
 Harriet Tubman’s code name was also Moses.
Covert Meanings Embedded in the
Lyrics of the Spirituals
 For example, in spirituals such as “Swing Low, Sweet
Chariot” and “Go Down, Moses” slaves expressed their
hope that they would one day escape to their own
personal “promised land.”
 References to figures and events in the Bible thus
became a kind of code for the slaves’ own experience.
One work song did more than just express discontent;
it gave directions for escape.
 In “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” fugitive slaves were
advised to follow the Big Dipper north to freedom.
Covert Meanings Embedded in
Lyrics
 The spiritual ‘Steal Away’ includes the line ‘My
Lord, He calls me, He calls me by the thunder’.
The word ‘thunder’ indicated the time or place
when a slave needed to make his or her escape
(the word thunder would be replaced with
other more precise times or places).
Characteristics of the Music and
Lyrics of Spirituals
 Spirituals combined African characteristics such as the
pentatonic scale, the call and response format,
syncopation, a cappella singing, and characteristic
long and irregular melodic phrases with the structural
and harmonic conventions of European Christian
hymns.
 In this respect, spirituals can be viewed as a form of
nineteenth century fusion music.
Call and Response Format
 The refrain was often the most important part of a
spiritual. A refrain is a word, phrase, line, or group of
lines repeated at regular intervals throughout the
work. Refrains serve several key functions:
 They emphasize the most important ideas.
 They help establish the rhythm of the song.
 Spirituals were not meant to be sung alone. Instead,
the refrain facilitated a call-and-response format in
which a leader sang the verses and the rest of the
group acted like a chorus and sang the refrain.
Call and Response Format Cont’d
 Each song produced a different mood
or feeling within the group:
 Some songs focused more on the pain
or rage caused by the conditions of
slavery
 Other songs looked hopefully toward
the future.
Pentatonic Scale
 A pentatonic scale is an
octave that contains five
notes.
 This type of scale is
found all over the world
in all different types of
music.
 African American
spirituals, jazz, Celtic
music, Greek folk music,
and African folk music all
typically contain
pentatonic scales.