From “We shall overcome” to “Fuck the police”: How African-American’s have used music to find their voice in the face of trauma.
In Bessel Van Der Kolk’s (2014) book The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma he writes, “Along with language, dancing, marching, and singing are uniquely human ways to install a sense of hope and courage” (p. 335).
As our groups studies African-American Liberation Theology, we have learned that music (in the form of spirituals) played an invaluable role in helping black people survive the unimaginable trauma of chattel slavery. Songs such as “Swing lo, sweet chariot” and “Deep down in my heart.”Many of the spirituals sung by the slaves contained Bible stories with parallels to their own lives, with characters such as Moses and Daniel. The spirituals served as a way to express their faith, as well as its sorrows and hopes.
With the arrival of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and The black Panthers in the 60’s and 70’s, songs like “We shall overcome” and “Say it loud: I’m black and I’m proud” reflected the hope that their leaders were instilling in them. No longer was the focus merely on survival, but on overcoming and establishing a new identity.
With the new momentum that the civil rights provided, the slaying and persecution of the black leaders that instilled so much hope in African Americans was a devastating blow that many people feel African Americans still have not recovered from.
To have hope snatched so violently and deliberately from a group of people is hard to describe. I compare it to screaming at the top of your lungs but realizing that there is no sound coming out. If you can imagine that feeling, it wouldn't be hard to imagine the lengths someone would go to in order to be seen and heard.
For African American’s, the Los Angeles riots came as no surprise. Slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King once said that “Riots are the voice of the unheard.” It is also no coincidence that the LA riots happened right around the release of NWA’s “Fuck the police.” As the spirituals reflected the hope of the slaves bound in chains, NWA’s anthem reflected the voicelessness of African American’s who had their hope and leaders brutally snatched from them.
For many Christians, worship paints a picture of restoration as soft, hopeful music is played in the background. While this may be an aspect of worship it does not give the whole picture. Another aspect of worship and prayer is found in lament. For example, a lament found in Psalm 137:9 says about an enemy, “Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.” In light of this verse, NWA’s anthem sounds tame!
In conclusion, for African Americans, the use of song and worship have been crucial to our survival. The songs we sang have proved themselves to be invaluable in helping establish a sense of hope and courage in times of abject hopelessness and voicelessness. Although the content of the songs has changed over the years, music has proved to be a powerful tool that reorients African Americans in the face of trauma.
