History of African-Canadian/American Gospel Music

Gospel music has become a prevalent part of African-Canadian/American culture. Their spiritual and rythimic flow traces all the way back to slavery times. They were intrigued by the Biblical stories and connected it to their own lives and created spirituals that re-explained narratives about Biblical figures like Daniel and Moses. In a way, the slaves Africanized Christianity which helped them create a community amongst themselves to express their sorrows and hopes. Many spirituals, known as “sorrows songs,” are very intense, slow and grim.

Songs like "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child," and "Nobody knows de trouble I've seen," helped define the slaves' struggles which they felt were similar to the suffering of Jesus Christ. During the mid-nineteenth century, the Underground railroad used unique terminology, like a secret language to bring slaves back to freedom. A song that was used as a code for escape to freedom by the great Harriet Tubman was “Go down, Moses,”. This was a way for her to identify herself to slaves who wished to flee north. Black gospel music has been in Western Canada for over 110 years. African American pioneers from the American Midwest and South brought the music. Immigration from the Carribeans and Africa has contributed to the wild spectrum of Black gospel music in Canada.

Worship Dancing in Black Churches

The camaraderie of Black Canadian churches, EPUB to be exact, allowed for these settlers to express their Blackness through worship, music, dancing, shout, communal art forms. That includes the suffering and the contentment. A shout (or praise break) is a kind of fast-paced Black gospel music accompanied by ecstatic dancing, stamping, sometimes actual shouting. It is a form of worship/praise most often seen in the Black Church. A special dance performed in Black churches is anointed praise dances. Its primary purpose is to minister to the body of Christ, the heart of God through creative expressions of worship, prophesy and dance.