The History of Gospel Part 2 (The

Age of Mahalia Jackson): 1947-1972

"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be
afraid?" (Psalm 27:1).

By this time, the excellent forms of gospel music spread globally. Mahalia Jackson was one great
ambassador who spread the music to the people during that era of time. Gospel saw the agenda of
making a way when there appears to be no way. At its core, gospel music is about hope, overcoming
challenges, and making reconciliation. Music back then was dominated by famous and unsung
artists. Mahalia Jackson, the greatest gospel singer in history, personified what real music is all about
with real messages, a powerful voice, and charisma. Not to mention that social movements like the
Civil Rights Movement and the Anti-War movement denoted changing times in the world, not just
in America. The end of Jim Crow apartheid, record progressive laws being passed, and the peak of
the Cold War all existed during this age of gospel musical expression. The words of the Gospel remain
strong back then and today. The era of Mahalia Jackson saw both old sounds along with new school
musicians expressing their words constantly in praising the name of the Lord. Amen and Selah.
 The Table of Contents

1. Preface

2. The 1940’s and the Start of

Mahalia Jackson

3. The 1950’s in Gospel

4. The Civil Rights Movement

Era and Gospel Music

5. The Later Years of Mahalia

Jackson’s Life

6. The Legacy of Mahalia Jackson

(and the End of an Era)
African Americans gave a lot to improve the world and enrich the souls of the world. We are
descendants of black Africans, who are the first humans in existence. We survived the worst
mistreatment in human history (from the Maafa to Jim Crow apartheid including the peonage
system), but we still rise to be teacher, lawyers, doctors, athletes, authors, judges, political leaders,
social activists, dentists, nurses, plumbers, scientists, and other great contributors to society.
Also, it important to remember the Golden Rule. That is that America and world is made up of
people of many backgrounds and colors. That diversity represents our strength as human beings.
We recognize that no one should judge a person based upon color or background but only on the
content of one's character. We believe in treating any human being of any background with
dignity and with respect. We believe in helping our neighbors along with desiring justice for all.
That is our creed. During the age of Mahalia Jackson, gospel music reached new heights among
the youth and adults. The Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker (who was an ally of Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr.) used gospel music to spread the message of human freedom to the people. Gospel, like its
cousins of ragtime, jazz, and blues, was expressed to deal with the horrible conditions of
American society. All over the South, songs like Leaning on the Everlasting Army promoted
safety, joy, and peace to continue onward in the legitimate cause of human liberty.

From the early years, gospel has expanded into a global musical artform. This time was after the
antebellum period and Reconstruction. Likewise, tons of black Americans fought for legitimate
freedom and liberation. The post-war period of world history saw the Cold War, anti-colonial
movements, and rapid changes to society (that caused black people, other people of color,
women, and other oppressed people to fight back against oligarchy, discrimination, and
injustice). From 1947 to 1971, one Gospel legend helped to spread the songs of the Lord globally.
She was a woman who not only sang gospel music, but she was active to promote civil rights for
black Americans. She was late Sister Mahalia Jackson. That time period signified her era of time
involving gospel music. I have always mentioned that Mahalia Jackson in my opinion was the
greatest vocalist in human history. She was so great that Aretha Franklin was the protege of
Mahalia Jackson. Aretha Franklin was the Queen of Soul. Gospel, during that time, spread
nationally in America and internationally in a higher level. This was the time when more
corporations got involved in the musical genre, and more debates existed on the balance between
gospel singers earning a living and maintaining his or her integrity at the same time. This
balancing situation is not new as nothing is new under the sun. That balance is key in maintaining
a righteous life. In our generation, haters of God are abundant, and many of them were ironically
ex-Christians. After all these years with new discoveries about DNA, science, and new
archaeological discoveries being made all the time, my faith has been maintained plus
strengthened.

The Post World War II era saw an expansion of inventions, the 2nd Great African American
Migration, and new social movements changing the atmosphere of American society. The music
reflected the new times. The essence of gospel music is about human beings expressing their love
of God and dealing with issues of spirituality, religion, and everyday living. I know many in this
generation believe in the new age teaching that religion in general is evil and spirituality is only
good. The truth is that true, authentic religion is not evil, and spirituality is good when utilized
in the right way. By this time, gospel singers had to travel more, they face Jim Crow racism, and
some had to work hard to maintain incomes. Gospel music is a key part of the African American
cultural experience. Even W.E.B. DuBois called the music of black religion as "the most original
and beautiful expression of human life and longing yet born on American soil."

Gospel singers, who were on the scene back then, were the Caravans, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Soul
Stirrers, Swan Silverstones, Bessie Griffin, The Davis Sisters, Albertina Walker, Clara Ward, the
Skylarks, Alex Bradford and the Bradford Singers, The Hightower Brothers, and other human
beings. Gospel music from the 1940's to 1972 saw a Golden Age of music in general. After 1972,
the world would never be the same again. This era saw gospel singers and black people fighting
for justice in the Civil Rights Movement too. The songs of Gospel still remains powerfully
strong.
 The 1940's and the Start of
Mahalia Jackson
By the 1940's, gospel music changed massively. An explosion of talent developed. Also, gospel
back then was a genre that expanded worldwide, and it was used by churches among all
denominations. Many black gospel artists and artists of any color toured and became full time
musicians. Some wanted to promote solely a gospel message, and other artists appealed to a more
secular audience. Mahalia Jackson rose up in prominence too. Also, Sister Rosetta Tharpe was
another gospel pioneer. She sold millions of records. She can move the audience with her singing
and guitar playing. In fact, Tharpe was one of the founding pioneers of rock and roll music. Blues
and jazz are the origins of rock itself to be honest. Thomas Dorsey was a famous producer who
worked once with blues artists. He played the piano, and later he worked with gospel artists like
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, etc. There was the evolution from mostly singing quartets to new groups
in the 1940's like the Pilgrim Travelers, Soul Stirrers, Swan Silvertones, Dixie Hummingbirds,
Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, Sensational Nightingales, etc. This music used more ad libs, more
stylistic freedom, and other styles.

By this time, Mahalia Jackson had used her contralto voice to develop gospel ballads. She had
joyful songs too. Her first hit was "Move on Up a Little Higher" which was written by W. Herbert
Brewster. Mahalia Jackson was the granddaughter of slaves. She was born and raised poor in the
Southern city of New Orleans. She found her home in the church sing songs that delivered God's
word via music. When she was a teenager, she moved into Chicago. She joined the Johnson
Singers, an early gospel group. She was heavily influenced by blues singer Bessie Smith. By 1946,
she appeared at the Golden Gate Ballroom in Harlem. In attendance was Art Freeman, a music
scout for Apollo Records, a company catering to black artists and audiences concentrating
mostly on jazz and blues. Apollo's chief executive Bess Berman was looking to broaden their
representation to other genres, including gospel. Berman signed Mahalia Jackson to a four-record
session, allowing Mahalia Jackson to pick the songs. Her first release on Apollo, "Wait 'Til My
Change Comes" backed with "I'm Going to Tell God All About it One of These Days" did not
sell well. Neither did her second, "I Want to Rest" with "He Knows My Heart."

Nationwide recognition came for Jackson in 1947 with the release of "Move On Up a Little
Higher," selling two million copies and hitting the number two spot on Billboard charts, both
firsts for gospel music. Mahalia Jackson's recordings captured the attention of jazz fans in the
U.S. and France, and she became the first gospel recording artist to tour Europe. She regularly
appeared on television and radio, and Mahalia Jackson performed for many presidents and heads
of state, etc. Crowds listened to her. She was the soloist of the National Baptist Convention. She
campaigned for Harry Truman being invited to the White House for the first time. She
performed at the Apollo Theater and the Village Vanguard. She was the first gospel singer to
perform at Carnegie Hall where Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington (who are classical artists)
performed at for years. The gospel group of the Jubalaires had gospel rap back in the 1940's too.
Since the 1940's was in the midst of World War II, there were patriotic gospel songs like the song
of We Are Americans, Praise the Lord (sung by Bertha Houston and the congregation). It was
recorded by Willis James in 1943. The Four Brothers had the song of Death comes a-knocking.
The Middle Georgia Four had the song of Lead me to that Rock from 1943.
 The 1950's in Gospel
By the 1950's, gospel music continued to be a worldwide genre. A newer generation of artists
existed like Bessie Griffin, Clara Ward, Albertina Walker, The Caranvans, The Davis Sisters, and
Dorothy Love Coates. Some artists sang in groups, and other artists were soloists. The Ward
Singers used theatrics and daring group dynamics. Men and women quartet groups were
commonplace back then. Albertina Walker lived from 1929 to 2010. She was a gospel singer,
songwriter, actress, and humanitarian. Walker was born in Chicago, and her parents were from
Georgia. Albertina was greatly influenced by Mahalia Jackson, her friend and confidante, whom
Jackson took on the road when Albertina was just a teenager. "Mahalia used to kid me. She'd say,
'Girl, you need to go sing by yourself,'" recalled Walker in a 2010 Washington Post interview.
Albertina Walker did just that. In 1951, she formed the group called The Caravans. She was
popularly referred to as the "Queen of Gospel Music", initially by such notables as the late
Reverend James Cleveland and Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr, for her outstanding achievements within
the genre after the death of Mahalia Jackson in 1972. The Caravans in the 1950's dominated the
gospel scene. There were singers like Ora Lee Hopkins, Elyse Yancey, and Nellie Grace Daniels.

The Caravans' membership has included: Bessie Griffin, Shirley Caesar, Dorothy Norwood, Inez
Andrews, Loleatta Holloway, James Cleveland, John McNeil, Cassietta George, and Delores
Washington. Her discovery of these artists resulted in the nickname "Star Maker." Walker retired
The Caravans in the late 1960's, performing as a solo artist. Mahala Jackson had her first television
appearance on the Toast of the Town show with Ed Sullivan in 1952. She toured Europe too. Her
appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in London made her the first gospel singer to perform there
since the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1872, and she pre-sold 20,000 copies of "Silent Night" in
Copenhagen.
 Mahalia Jackson appeared at the 1956 Democratic National Convention, silencing a rowdy hall
of attendees with "I See God." Miller, who was in attendance, was awed by it, noting "there wasn't
a dry eye in the house when she got through." Jackson broke into films playing a missionary in
St. Louis Blues (1958), and a funeral singer in Imitation of Life (1959). As demand for her rose,
she traveled extensively, performing 200 dates a year for ten years. Mahalia Jackson and her
entourage of singers and accompanists toured deeper into the South, encountering difficulty
finding safe, clean places to sleep, eat, and buy gas due to Jim Crow laws. Sometimes, they had to
sleep in Jackson's car, a Cadillac she had purchased to make long trips more comfortable. These
indignities inspired Mahalia Jackson to further promote civil rights causes.

Mahalia Jackson was a well-known civil rights leader who fought racism. Racism and bigotry are
scourges that ruined so many human lives. She wanted ushers to allow white and black people to
sit together. She told them that they were all Christian brothers and sisters. Mahalia Jackson met
with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy at the 1956 National Baptist Convention.
Both young ministers were fighting segregation. Both men were of the South. Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. used his leadership skills, his firm convictions, and his outstanding oratory ability in
order to fight for social change (like ending Jim Crow apartheid, fighting poverty, promoting
workers' rights, and ending imperialism). Mahalia Jackson sang in support of civil rights causes
without charge. She raised money to buy a church an organ, robes for choirs, and sponsoring
missionaries. She raised money for the United Negro College Fund and sang at the Prayer
Pilgrimage Breakfast in 1957. She later stated she felt God had especially prepared King "with the
education and the warmth of spirit to do His work." She sang in support of the Montgomery,
Alabama bus boycott. Mahalia Jackson supported black sharecroppers in Tennessee facing
eviction for voting. Mahalia Jackson was at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957 and 1958. She visited
the Holy Land where she knelt and prayed at Calvary. The Holy Land is home to so much
spiritual traditions and some of the most important developments in world history.

The Korean War (1950- The Suez Canal Crisis The Algerian War (1954- The Vietnam War (1955-1975)
1953) (1956) 1962)
The Civil Rights Movement Era
and Gospel Music
There is no modern-day Civil Rights Movement as we know it today without gospel music.
Spirituals, gospel, and folk music played a huge role in the black freedom struggle. Singers,
musicians, and other people in diverse genre made classic anthems of freedom. Large crowds saw
concerts that raised money to help protesters and civil rights leaders too. Folk singers Guy and
Candie Cawawan gave an interview with the Civil Rights History Project. They sang song like
Tree of Life, Eyes on the Prize, and We Shall Overcome. The Carawans worked at the progressive
Highlander Folk School at Tennessee. That school helped to promote progressive teachings that
inspired many leaders. That was the place were activists all over America would be trained in
nonviolence (and they learned the songs of the movement). People know about activist and folk
singer Pete Seeger who promoted music to fund civil rights groups and fight unjust wars. Pete
Seeger came into Jackson, Mississippi to be involved in the Freedom Summer Project (where men
and women would help register black Americans in the Deep South, promote education, and
organize for justice). The three civil rights workers of Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner,
and James Chaney was part of Freedom Summer, and they were murdered by racists. Later on.
Jamila Jones was another singer who grew up in Alabama.

Jamila Jones grew up in Alabama and sang professionally as a teenager with the Montgomery
Gospel Trio and the Harambee Singers. She studied nonviolence activism at the Highlander Folk
School in 1958. She said that the Highlander location was raided by the police. The police shut
down the lights. Yet, the music that she sang was so powerful by adding the new verse of "We are
not afraid" to the song of We Shall Overcome, that one police officer was shaken to his core. The
officer said that he wanted people to not sing so loud. Jamila Jones said of the incident that, "And
I could not believe it. Here these people had all the guns, the billy clubs, the power, we thought.
And he was asking me, with a shake, if I would not sing so loud. And it was that time that I
really understood the power of our music.” The song We Shall Overcome came from the lyrics
from I'll Overcome Some Day which was written by Reverend Charles Tindley in 1903 including
the melody from a traditional African American gospel song called, "I'll be All Right." Zilphia
Horton, who was a folk singer and activist from the Highlander Folk School changed the song's
lyrics from I to We.

Chicago hosted gospel artists to support SNCC in the September 1962 concert called, "Gospel
Sing for Freedom." Civil rights leaders involved in the gospel tradition were Bernice Johnson,
Reagon, Sherrod, Jones, and other people. The SNCC Freedom Singers was formed in December
1962 with Reagon, Johnson, Harris, and Neblett. The Mother of SNCC was Ella Baker. SNCC
wanted to promote grassroots organizing in the community level filled with egalitarian power to
cause social change in eradicating racism plus all injustices in the world. Ella Baker and Septima
Clark are the Grandmothers of the Modern Day Civil Rights Movement.

A lot of people don't know that Curtis Mayfield was once in gospel choir. He was born and raised
in the great city of Chicago, Illinois. He was part of the group The Impressions back in 1956 when
he was 14 years old. He is well known as one of the first musicians to bring more themes of social
awareness in soul music. His song of People Get Ready for the Impressions which is one major
anthem for the Civil Rights Movement.

Mahalia Jackson supported Dr. King and JFK. She campaigned for John F. Kennedy too. Her
clout and loyalty to Kennedy earned her an invitation to sing "The Star Spangled Banner" at his
inaugural ball in 1961. Months later, she helped raise $50,000 for the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC). The SCLC was a major religious, civil rights organization
headed by Dr. King and other dedicated human beings. Mahalia Jackson lent her support to King
and other ministers in 1963 after their successful campaign to end segregation in Birmingham by
holding a fundraising rally to pay for protesters' bail. By this time, she was a personal friend of
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King, often hosting them when they visited
Chicago, and spending Thanksgiving with their family in Atlanta. King considered Jackson's
house a place that he could truly relax. The 1963 Birmingham Campaign in general was heavily
influenced by black religious leaders, SNCC, the SCLC, women, and other human beings who
desired real change to commence. Gospel functions as a grassroots function of building a
community, and the Civil Rights Movement is a grassroots movement as well.
 Very Important Civil Rights Occurrences
The 1954 Brown vs.
Board of Education
decision banned legal
segregation in public
schools.
The Birmingham
movement in 1963 was
one of the life changing
times of the Civil Rights
Movement. Young and
older black Americans
were hit with water by
Bull Connor’s forces.
This outrageous act of
racist terrorism inspired
more civil rights activists
to fight for freedom even
more.
Rosa Parks and other leaders of
the Montgomery Bus boycott
(from 1955 to 1956) helped to
accelerate the power of the Civil
Rights Movement.
The March on Washington in
1963 was about protesters and
speakers calling for justice.
They wanted investments in
housing, an end to poverty,
eliminating police brutality, and
total justice for all. Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. gave his historic
“I Have a Dream” speech in the
rally.
That nationwide sit-ins from The Freedom Rides in 1961
1958 to 1960 in places like was about heroic people
Greensboro, North Carolina promoting the legal
and other locations helped interstate, integrated travel
to end legal Jim Crow of buses across America.
apartheid.
Malcolm X in 1964 and in The 1968 Memphis
1965 promoted his Sanitation strike was about
Organization of Afro- black workers seeking
American Unity group to human dignity, living
stand up for international wages, and just benefits in
black Pan-African their jobs. Dr. King, and
liberation. Malcolm X, by other leaders defended
1965, was active in the these workers. The
Selma movement to fight Memphis sanitation deal
for voting rights for black and the Civil Rights Act of
Americans. He was also 1968 (which defended
strongly anti-imperialism. housing rights) existed in
1968 too.
Mahalia Jackson was at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom to sing, "I've Been
'Buked and I've Been Scorned" on King's request, then "How I Got Over." Jackson is credited as
the woman who inspired King's "I Have a Dream" speech. "Tell 'em about the dream, Martin!" she
shouted, just before he began the most famous segment of the speech. Three months later, while
rehearsing for an appearance on Danny Kaye's television show, Mahalia Jackson was inconsolable
upon learning that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated, believing that he died
fighting for the rights of black Americans.

By the 1960's, gospel music was heavily involved in the Civil Rights Movement from singers,
preachers, ushers, and various religious organizations. Mahalia Jackson toured Europe again in
1964. She sent LBJ a telegram to protect the marchers in Selma, Alabama in response to Bloody
Sunday back in 1965. When not on tour, she concentrated her efforts on building two
philanthropies: the Mahalia Jackson Foundation which eventually paid tuition for 50 college
students, and the culmination of a dream she had for ten years: a nondenominational temple for
young people in Chicago to learn gospel music. As she organized two large benefit concerts for
these causes, and she was once more heartbroken upon learning of the assassination of Martin
Luther King Jr. She attended the funeral in Atlanta where she gave one of her most memorable
performances of "Take My Hand, Precious Lord." With this, Jackson retired from political work
and personal endorsements. In 1967, the song of "Oh Happy Day" was recorded by the Northern
California State Youth Choir (later being the Edwin Hawkins Singers). This one song of Oh
Happy Day changed the era of gospel music in general. The song created the modern-day era of
contemporary gospel music as we know it. Many of the groups, soloists, and composers in that
movements were diverse.
Aretha Franklin had a
great role in presenting
gospel music in the
1960’s and beyond. Her
voice was one of a kind.
Not to mention that
Aretha Franklin was a
great civil rights activists
who stood up for freedom
for black people.
The Edwin Hawkins
singers sang Oh Happy
Day being one of the
greatest, impactful gospel
songs in history. This
group helped to start
urban contemporary
gospel music decades ago
during the 1960’s. The
group was based in
Oakland, California.
The Staple Singers have worked
in gospel music and R&B for
generations. Roebuck “Pops”
Staples, Cleotha Staples, Mavis
Staples, Pervis Staples, and
Yvonne Staples have a long
history in showing albums like
Pray on, Hammer and Nails,
Swing Low, etc.
The Fairfield Four was one of
the best gospel groups of all
time. They were based in
Nashville, Tennessee since
1921. They have been around
for over 90 years. The group
ended in 1960 to comeback in
1980.
The Caravans were one of The Consolers were a
the most influential husband-and-wife duo
gospel groups of all time. spreading their message
They helped to launch worldwide. The team
the careers of people from were made up of Sullivan
Delores Washington to and Iola Pugh. They had
Albertina Walker. Shirley a folk style, and they were
Caesar, Dorothy born in the South. The
Norwood, Bessie Griffin, couple married on March
and other people were in 11, 1950. They appeared
the groups. They were at the 1972 Newport Jazz
created in 1947. Festival too.
The Mighty Clouds of Joy The Hightower Brothers
was based in Los Angeles, was a group of gospel
California. They were singers who praised Jesus
famous by 1961. Gamble Christ and talked about
and Huff (legendary many issues. They praised
producers) worked with the salvation of their
them in their songs. A religious faith. One of
Bright Side was their their 1962 singles was To
1965 album. The End/Until He
Comes.
 Roberta Martin (1907-1969)
Roberta Martin composed
about 70 songs, arranged
and published 280 gospel
songs, and inspired tons of
people. Some of her
compositions are He
Knows Just how much We
Can Bear and God is Still on
The Throne (1959). He
composed Let it be (1950)
and Just Jesus and Me
(1966).
These are some of the early members
of The Roberta Martin Singers.
Roberta Martin was so beloved in Chicago that
when her funeral existed, more than 50,000
came to mourn her. She was born in Helena,
Arkansas to be one of the greatest gospel
musicians of all time. She would play the piano,
and she was one leader of The Roberta Martin
Singers, which was a famous gospel group.
Only A Look was the group’s theme song. She
moved into Chicago in 1917. One of her
mentors was Thomas A. Dorsey or the Father
of Gospel Music songs. Some of the famous
members of the Roberta Martin Singers were
Bessie Folk, Myrtle Scott, and Delois Barrett
Campbell. Grace was their other hit song too.
Martin allowed the group to have their own
individual personalities. She influenced the
artists of Albertina Walker, James Cleveland,
and Alex Bradford. By July 15, 1998, the
United States Postal Service issued a 32-cent
commemorative stamp to honor her
contributions to music. There was a stamp to
honor 4 gospel women including Mahalia
Jackson, Clara Ward, and Sister Rosetta
Tharpe.
 The Later Years of Mahalia
Jackson's Life
Mahalia Jackson formed restaurants, visited the Caribbean, and visited Liberia in West Africa.
On July 10, 1970, Jackson appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival in Festival Field in Newport, RI
as part of "A Beautiful Night: Salute to Satch," a star-studded celebration of jazz legend Louis
Armstrong's birthday. Mahalia Jackson continued to travel worldwide. In 1971, she was on shows
led by Johnny Cash and Flip Wilson. She toured Japan. The U.S. State Department sponsored a
visit to India, where she played Kolkata, New Delhi, Madras, and Mumbai, all of them sold out
within two hours. In New Delhi, she had an unexpected audience with Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi who declared, "I will never hear a greater voice; I will never know a greater person." She
passed away in Chicago in January 1972 after she recovered from surgery.
She had health issues for years. Many people were shocked at Mahalia
Jackson's passing. Her funeral service existed at Greater Salem Baptist
Church in Chicago where she was still a member. Fifty thousand people
paid their respects, many of them lining up in the snow the night before,
and her peers in gospel singing performed in her memory the next
This picture is from the
morning. The day after, Mayor Richard Daley and other politicians and 1969 Summer of Soul
celebrities gave their eulogies at the Arie Crown Theater with 6,000 in Festival in New York City.
attendance. Her body was returned to New Orleans where she lay in Mahalia Jackson is singing
state at Rivergate Auditorium under a military and police guard, and with Mavis Staples.
60,000 people viewed her casket. On the way to Providence Memorial
Park in Metairie, Louisiana, the funeral procession passed Mount Moriah Baptist Church, where
her music was played over loudspeakers. Mahalia Jackson was a legend for humanity.
 Drums helps churchgoers
and lover of music to
clap when listening to
gospel music. Drumbeats
have roots explicitly
from Africa.
The harp has been Tambourines are used
used in weddings and People love music the heavily by members of
other special a gospel choir. It helps
world over. Gospel
occasions. The harp to keep the beat, and
music has inspired
was used by humanity it’s a lightweight
souls for a very long
for thousands of years. device.
The bass guitar is very time to do the right The piano is one of
common among gospel thing, to show praise the most important
bands. It has a soulful to the Lord, and to instruments in
sound, and they have have hope for the gospel music. It can
been used by the blues future. These help people to feel
and other types of following instruments the words of gospel
music. Sister Rosetta come alive with songs, and it can be
Sharpe (who is energy, power, and backed up by the
pictured above) an inspiration to
choir.
popularized the bass
enrich human lives.
guitar in her music
constantly.
Horns have been used The clarinet has been
in gospel, college used in gospel, jazz,
bands, and other and blues music for
forms of genres for decades.
generations.
The organ is a huge
staple of gospel musical
expression. The organ
has a piano like keyboard
on it that pushes
compressed air through
the pipes to make
sounds.
The Legacy of Mahalia Jackson
(and the End of an Era)
Mahalia Jackson had a unique gospel singing style. She was influenced by many genres of music.
She was mostly untrained. With an energetic voice, Mahalia Jackson can go from contralto to
soprano and switched up quickly. The Pentecostal gospel music influenced her as Pentecostal
sounds were much more revolutionary than typical Baptist sounds. Mahalia Jackson inspired a
whole generation of gospel artists from Albertina Walker to Aretha Franklin. Like always, in my
view, Mahalia Jackson was the greatest vocalist in history. She could sing high and low. Her
messages about spirituality were powerful. She fought against the evil of Jim Crow
apartheid. After Mahalia Jackson's passing, gospel music was in a transitional period from 1972
to 1997. There were many gospel artists who continued with old school sounds, and other gospel
artists wanted to use more R&B influences to establish their music. Artists like Walter Hawkins,
Tramaine Hawkins, Andrae Crouch and the Disciples, the Winans, the Clark Sisters, Mattie
Moss Clark developed composing, arranging, singing, and recording for large choirs for years.
Gospel was a global genre with more movements to spread, and it would never be the same again.

By Timothy
 Appendix A: An Exegesis on the Trinity

It has been a while since I did an exegesis, but now it's the perfect time to do this. I wanted to
do it, because many young Christians don't know what the Trinity is. Another reason why I did
it is because we have a new generation of people who not only disagree with the Trinity but bash
it like the false preacher Gino Jennings (who preaches the heresy of Oneness modalism. Gino
Jennings supports the witchcraft glorifying, false Apocrypha books too). Jennings’ views are
similar to the views of the heretic Sabellius who believed that God is one person in the different
offices of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Sabellianism heresy still goes on today
just like Modalism. So, this work will stand out with evidence from the Scriptures to confirm
the Trinity 100 percent. The Trinity means that one God exists in three persons. These persons
are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They have existed since the
beginning of the Universe. They exist simultaneously. The Son is not the Father or the Holy
Spirit. The Trinity exists as one substance, power, nature, and essence. This concept is found in
Nature. A human has a mind, body, and spirit. So, humans have a compound unity. So, God is
a complex, compound, yet unified being.
 Distinctions and Differences between the Father and the Son:

1.Matthew 3:13-17 mentioned that God the Father said in an audible voice that Jesus is his beloved
Son that he is well pleased. The Father in that situation identifies Jesus Christ as his Son.

2. 1 John 1:1-3 proved that the Father exists with the Son in distinction of person. If the Father was
the same as the Son, the Bible would say that the Father is the Son. Yet, that isn't the case.

3. John 3:14-19 is a verse saying that God gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish but have everlasting life. The Bible explicitly only calls the Son (Jesus Christ
not God the Father) alone being begotten.

4. John 16:3 showed Jesus saying a distinction between him and the Father. If the Son was the
same as the Father, the Bible would so. It doesn't, because the Son is making a distinction between
him and the Father in person not in nature

5. Matthew 26:39-42 outlines how Jesus Christ prayed to the Father three times in doing his will.
6. Matthew 24:36 is explicitly clear that only the Father knows the day or the hour of the end, not
the Son. This is the smoking gun evidence proving a distinction between the Father and the Son. If
both are completely the same, the Son would know the day or the hour of the end.

7. Philippians 2:5-6 outlines how the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father have equality.

8. John 5:19 is another verse showing that Jesus or the Son saying that when the Father does
something, he will do it also.

9. John 1:18 outlines that no human has seen God the Father only the begotten Son of God.

10. John 8:15-18 mentioned that Jesus Christ said that the Father sent him. If the Son and the
Father were the same person, the Son wouldn't have made these comments. It is obvious that the
New Testament makes it clear that there is a distinction between the Father and the Son.
 The Plurality and Compound Unity of one God:

1. Genesis 1:1-4, 26 said that God created the heavens and the Earth in the beginning. Later, it
mentioned God saying Let us make man in our image. God in those verses means Elohim, and
Elohim is a Hebrew plural noun signifying a unified compound being.

2. Deuteronomy 6:4 shows that "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD" and when that is
literally translated it reads Shema Israel, Yehovah Elohim (Adonai) echad! One is translated as echad
meaning a group united as one not a solitary one which would mean yachid in Hebrew. This source
outlines this, "the only word that applies to God (Elohim) in the O.T., then this would be a death
sentence of the Trinitarian believers. The word yachid means an absolute or solitary one." (Francis
Brown, S. R. Drivr, and Charles Briggs, A Hebrew English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford,
Charendon, 1966, pg. 402).

"Elohim conveys both the unity of the one God, and yet allows for the plurality of Divine Persons as
expressed in the historical Christian doctrine of the Trinity. It is unique to monotheistic Israel and is
not found in the language of any of her polytheistic, Semitic neighbors (Jack B. Scott, S.V. "elohim",
in Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 2 vols:, Chicago, Moody Press, 1980, 1:44).

The unity in multiplicity is the essence of the Trinity or a plurality in one unity (God)

The Holy Spirit being a Different Person than the Father

1. John 15:26-27 said that the Comforter proceeds from the Father. The Comforter is the Holy
Spirit.

2. 2 Corinthians 13:14 outlines the distinction of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

3. 2 Cor 13:14 and Mt 28:19 document the personality of the Holy Spirit.

4. II Peter 1:21 mentioned that the prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit.

5. Matthew 28:19 shows the words of Jesus Christ being a direct commandment to his absolutes
and followers. Jesus Christ said, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." The singular use of "name" does NOT
indicate a single name for all three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It indicates a singular name for
each one.

The Greek reads:

"eiV to onoma tou PatroV kai tou Uiou kai tou Hagiou PneumatoV"

"in the name the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost."

Furthermore, had Jesus used the plural (names), the grammar would indicate a plurality of names
for each individual one ("the names of the Father, and the names of the Son, and the names of the
Holy Ghost.")

Following is another verse where Granville Sharp applies:

1 John 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth
the Father and the Son.

(KJV)
The last line in Greek reads:

"o arnoumenoV ton Patera kai ton Uion."

"that denieth the Father and the Son."

The definite article "tou" (the) before Son and Holy Ghost indicates that they are all different things
or persons. The grammatical rule in Greek for determining whether a single thing or person is
meant, or different things or persons is meant, when "and" appears, is called the "Granville Sharp
rule." The basic rule is as follows:

"If two nouns of the same case are connected by a "kai" (and) and the article (the) is used with both
nouns, they refer to different persons or things. If only the first noun has the article, the second
noun refers to the same person or thing referred to in the first." {Curtis Vaughn, and Virtus Gideon,
A Greek Grammar of the New Testament" (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1979), p. 83.}"

The presence of the article "the" before Son and Holy Spirit where all three are connected by "and"
indicates three separate persons. The singular use of "name" implies that each has a separate
name.
 More References of the Trinity in the Old Testament
1. Isaiah 48:16 mentioned the distinctions of the Holy Spirit, the Father, and the Son overtly.

2. Psalm 2:1-9 truly mentioned a conversation between the Father and the Son, and the Father said
that he has witnessed the begotten Son.

3. Psalm 110:1-5 showed verses about the God the Father and the Messiah (the Son) making God's
enemies his footstool.

4. Proverbs 30:4 described the power of God and His Son in very great detail.
 The Historical Support of the Trinity by the Early Church

1. Theophlius of Antioch in 180 A.D. wrote of the Trinity in his Chapter XV-Of the Fourth Day, To
Autolycus 2:15). Other early Christians like Justin Martyr, Ignatius, Polycarp, Athenagrius, and other
have written quotes believing in distinctions of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and other concepts
of the Trinity.

2. Justin Martyr in 150 A.D. mentioned the following words, "God speaks in the creation of man
with the very same design, in the following words: 'Let us make man after our image and likeness' .
. . I shall quote again the words narrated by Moses himself, from which we can indisputably learn
that [God] conversed with someone numerically distinct from himself and also a rational being. . . .
But this Offspring who was truly brought forth from the Father, was with the Father before all the
creatures, and the Father communed with him." (Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 62).
3. In 250 A.D., Ignatius wrote the following words of: "But our Physician is the only true God, the
unbegotten and unapproachable, the Lord of all, the Father and Begetter of the only begotten Son.
We have also as a Physician the Lord our God, Jesus the Christ, the only begotten Son and Word,
before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin. For "the Word was
made flesh." Being incorporeal, He was in the body; being impassible, He was in a passible body;
being immortal, He was in a mortal body; being life, He became subject to corruption, that He
might free our souls from death and corruption, and heal them, and might restore them to health,
when they were diseased with ungodliness and wicked lusts. (long version The Epistle of Ignatius to
the Ephesians, Chap. VII. See also Chap. XV; XVIII; XIX; The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians,
chap.VI; The Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians, Chap. X; The Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans
(Introduction); The Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians, Chap. IV; VI; The Epistle of Ignatius to
the Smyrnaeans, Chap. I; III; V).

4. Irenaeus of Lyons wrote the following words in defense of the Trinity too: "For the Church,
although dispersed throughout the whole world even to the ends of the earth, has received from
the Apostles and from their disciples the faith in one God, the Father Almighty . . . and in one Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, who became flesh for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit." (Against
Heresies 1:10:1 [A.D. 189]).
Gospel music is one large heartbeat of not only music, but it is a large portion of
the psyche of the overall black freedom struggle. We are certainly appreciative of
the sacrifice of so many gospel artists who used their voices to save souls, to serve
the Lord, and to inspire future generations to do what is right in their lives.