Black History Month Interview

Samuel Brock speaks on African-American church

On Wednesday, February 25, the DCM, Samuel Brock, was interviewed by Digital Congo, a private TV station in Kinshasa, on the African-American church and the gospel music tradition in the African-American community.  The interview focused on the African-American church as a place of personal and collective reaffirmation and to create cohesion within the African-American community during slavery and the civil rights movement.  Brock explained that the African-American church has long been a sacred place within the community, serving as a bulwark of faith,  leaned on for the community’s aspirations for racial progress.  He also elaborated on the unique gospel music tradition itself and noted that Negro spirituals, like Gregorian chants, have no known composer; they served as the soul of the African-American church, in turn inspiring the community to move forward.  Traditional Negro spirituals reflect themes inspired by the Old Testament and such emblematic figures as Moses, Joshua, and Jacob.  In history, spirituals often contained codified messages which aided the quest for freedom, for instance during attempted escapes via the “underground rail road,” Brock also noted.   Finally, the DCM said that current secular music such as Jazz, Blues, Rhythm and Rap, were inspired by African-American history and now  serve a social function.  This is the last in a series of four interviews conducted in celebration of Black History Month.