Anointedtoday.blogspot.com: Black Excellence: Singing and Coding During Slavery

Did you know that many of the songs that were sung by slaves during Slavery carried a deep message? Where there is a will there is a way. Black slaves were creative and found ways to survive.

Did You Know?

***Purpose***

1. Songs Rooted in Slavery

Have you heard of the song Swing Low, Sweet Chariot? This song signaled slaves to prepare for escape, with "Sweet Chariot" as a code for the Underground Railroad, which traveled south to bring slaves north to freedom. Blackexcellence.com talks about this. They further added that the song Go Down Moses talks about the Bible’s Old Testament events, (Exodus 8:1) stating Israel means African American slaves while Pharoah and Egypt mean the slave master. The word “down” in the American slavery context means down the Mississippi river, a place where slaves had to struggle with awful conditions. I cannot imagine.

Focus on Jesus:

2. Wade in the Water

The song Wade in the Water has been sung during baptismal. This song also carries a code during slavery directing the slaves to avoid bloodhounds by masking their scent in bodies of water. The lyrics were first co-published in 1901 in New Jubilee Songs as Sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers by Frederick J. Work and his brother, John Wesley Work Jr., an educator at the Fist historically black college in Nashville, Tennessee, according to talkingblackinamerica.org. the also add that the song “Follow the Drinking Gourd” sent slaves north to Canada by following the Big Dipper celestial body.

3. Steal Away

The song "Steal Away" served as a signal for people to gather and talk about plans for rebellion. Nat Turner led a slave’s rebellion in Virginia, and he would sing this song according to solidaritylibrary.com. They also added that Levi Coffin and his wife Catherine would allow slaves to hide in the walls of their home if people came looking for them. Catherine would sew clothes and make food for the fugitives as well.

4. Prohibited Reading and Writing

Did you know that slaves were prohibited from learning to read or write? This is something that may be sometimes now taken for granted. There were states that fought to hold on to slavery in the 1830’s and in 1831 Virginia declared that any meetings to teach free African Americans to read or write was illegal. The sad part of this is just because there was a law to that effect it did not make it morally right. Even though slaves were thought of as property slaves were human beings.

5. The Right to Learn to Read

In 1723 a group of enslaved African Americans petitioned the Bishop of London to ensure that their children could attend school and learn to read the Bible. There was this fear by the slave owners that teaching enslaved people to read or instructing them in religion could lead them to become rebellious. The irony is that not teaching them could still end in rebellion, because slaves had hopes and a yearning to learn and to thrive in this world. That is something that God had instilled in them. You can find more information about this at daily.jstor.org

6. Slaves For Sale 1501-1865

The United States often split enslave black families and sold them to other slave owners to members to plantations far away. This separation of African American families led to the loss of culture and enslaved people were often punished for crying, complaining, or fighting back. Gatheringforjustice.org., Can you imagine being sold on a selling block? Can you imagine seeing your husband or your child being sold to someone else right in front of your face? I cannot imagine. They further added that blacks were not the only race that was affected. Mexicans and Mexican Americans from 1930s-1940s were exposed to raids in public places and workplaces and parents were deported while their American born children were left behind. Does this kind of sound familiar today with the ICE (United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement) deportations? This happened in the 1930s-1940s but is it happening again today? With the introduction of cellphones and camera technology are we seeing the deportations as they happen all over the United States?

7. Mailing Yourself to Freedom

Would you consider mailing yourself to freedom? One man did just that. Henry Box Brown fled Richmond, Virginia in 1949 via a custom-made dry goods box that was only big enough to hold his six-foot, 200-pound frame curled up into a fetal position. History.com states that he arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, met by abolitionists awaiting his delivery, 27 harrowing hours later. His family members had been sold many times, and he felt he had nothing left. I could not imagine feeling that type of desperation. To witness something like that and to feel powerless to do nothing about it must have been devastating. I still could not imagine.

8. Generations to come

It is important that we never forget what our ancestors have gone through. It is important to pass on what we know to our children and their children even though there are those that want to erase it and create a new different narrative. Although I have never picked cotton, my father did and he let me know that. It is important with this new government that we do not go backwards but go forward. The adage that “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” must be taken seriously. How many veterans do we have that are homeless? How many homeless people do we see on our streets of America?

Think about it.

Source:

25 Black Gospel Songs That Have Their Roots in Slavery

Black History’s Influence on Modern Music-Slavey & Early Coded Resistance Songs

Underground Railroad

How Literacy Became a Powerful Weapon in the Fight to End Slavery

When Enslaved Virginians Demanded the Right to Read

History of Family Separation

Enslaved Couples Faced Wrenching Separations, or Even Choosing Family Over Freedom

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