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KCPT Media Release
Contact: Alex Greenwood 816-756-3580 ext.4270
KCPT Program Traces the Birth and Development of "Sorrow Songs" Among African American Slaves
Airs Sunday, July 22, 4:30 p.m.
July 16, 2007
(KANSAS CITY) The power and history of songs known as "spirituals" is the topic of "The Spirituals" airing on KCPT Sunday, July 22 at 4:30 p.m.
Listening to spirituals is to recall a time when Africans were crowded on slave ships, bound in chains, and forced to live and work in a foreign land. The spiritual became an indigenous American art form, created in the fields and slave shacks of the American south. Slaves were able to secretly communicate with each other while singing, giving them the power to console, heal and resist. "The Spirituals" eloquently recounts the bitter history from which the spiritual art form arose and goes on the road with The American Spiritual Ensemble as they gallantly try to preserve the vanishing folk songs of the slaves.
During the civil rights movement, spirituals were an important tool of resistance during marches and demonstrations. "The only way people could sustain themselves was through song," recounts activist Ann Grundy. "As the civil rights movement kicked off, "The Spirituals" were front and center, and absolutely perfect for the moment."
Spirituals continue to be an important tool for galvanizing throughout the world. "Swing Low Sweet Chariot," "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen," "Go Down Moses," "We Shall Overcome," and "When the Saints Go Marching In," are the enduring spiritual melodies of the Deep South.
"The Spirituals" transports viewers to a place and time they have never experienced while capturing the ensemble and their messages of hope and forgiveness in an inspiring and joyous documentary. Travel through the history of Africans in America, from the days of slavery, through the civil rights movement, to rousing modern day performances in the finest concert halls in Spain.
"It was born out of a very dark period in our American history," adds Professor Dr. Alfonse Anderson. "But it is American, and no matter how it was born, is still American, and it is part of our roots, of all people' s roots".
"The Spirituals" offers a fresh approach to African American history, while clearly reiterating the unmistakable contribution of African born slaves and their descendants to our musical history.
KCPT provides programming and services that entertain, educate and enrich the Kansas City community. For more information about KCPT"s programs and services go to www.KCPT.org.
--KCPT--
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