Resistance Music
In the American system of slavery, African Americans had many ways to resist the dehumanizing conditions that existed. The songs they sang (known today as Negro Spirituals) had a purpose: they were sung to express their grief, petition to their God, and soothe the pain of bondage. Most of the songs were made up from stories they heard in the Bible, but they all seem had the same underlining plea – Freedom. Here is an example: Didn’t my Lord deliver Daniel? Deliver Daniel, deliver Daniel Didn’t my Lord deliver Daniel? They why not every man? He delivered Daniel from the lion’s den, Jonah from the belly of a whale, The Hebrew children from the fiery furnace, Then why not every man? Well, the ancestors were eventually released from bondage and entered into the American Aparthied system of Jim Crow. In these modern times, African Americans have marched, staged sit-ins, and fought up to the very moment Barack Obama was sworn in as president of the United States. So, what are we resisting to...