GROSSMONT COLLEGE – When the Gospel Choir and Master Chorale performed last month, it was not simply a matter of entertainment.  According to Director Ken Anderson, Gospel is part and parcel of Black History, which was celebrated on campus throughout February. Anderson said Negro spirituals sung by slaves were the basis for Gospel music.

The songs praised God, and some were “code names,” in which biblical figures stood for various abolitionists, including Harriet Tubman who established the Underground Railroad, Anderson said.  “The River Jordan,” in this context, referred to the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, north of which lay freedom.

“When they sang about going to heaven or the Promised Land,  code names for freedom,” Anderson added. “In these songs, they told each other ‘this is when and where and how we are going to get away.’

“Through this system of communication, the Underground Railroad was successful in freeing slaves,” he added. “Gospel music comes along a little later but even through the streets of America – during what was known as the ‘Civil Rights Movement’ – not all Gospel music was just for Sunday morning. 

“They sang these songs with their arms crossed and their hands clasped – singing together songs like “We Shall Overcome” and “Ain’t Nobody Gonna Turn Me Around,” walking through the streets of America holding her accountable to justice and liberty for all.”

“So Gospel is not just church music,” Anderson concluded.

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Tittle is a reporter, and Carter a videographer, for MCOMM 132; contact them respectively at [email protected] and [email protected]