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Israel/Zionism See other Israel/Zionism Articles Title: PC comes for hymn singers -- the Orwellian 'Reparations Royalty Pilot Program' Some white congregations are paying to use hymns written by enslaved African people SCOTT SIMON, HOST: As the national reckoning over racism grew over the past few years, many churches put up Black Lives Matter signs. A few are now going a step further and are trying to acknowledge financially the origins of some of the songs they sing during services. From member station WGBH in Boston, Craig LeMoult has the story. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart. CRAIG LEMOULT, BYLINE: A hundred or so masked parishioners in the pews of the United Parish in Brookline joined together in singing "Lord, I Want To Be A Christian In My Heart." (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) In my heart, in my heart, in my heart. LEMOULT: This song, like many that churches sing all over the country, comes from a musical tradition of spirituals originally composed by African people enslaved in America. Susan DeSelms is the minister of music at the United Parish, which is predominantly white. SUSAN DESELMS: There's a lot of - you know, there was a growing discomfort around how to use Negro spirituals appropriately and respectfully. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) Lord, I want to be more loving in my heart. LEMOULT: Some parishioners began asking whether it was OK for a mostly white church to sing them at all. That debate within the church heated up, she says, after the murder of George Floyd. DESELMS: And it brought up a lot of emotions from a lot of people. And I started thinking about, well, what can make this right? What can make this not feel terrible? And how do we get through this? I mean, we have a sign on our church that says Black Lives Matter. But what else? You know, what else do you want to do about that? LEMOULT: DeSelms addressed the issue head-on in a recent homily at the church. DESELMS: We're talking about Negro spirituals today. LEMOULT: She starts off by addressing that word, which she tells the church is the preferred term for this music in Black communities. DESELMS: Words matter. And while using the word Negro, even in this context, gives me discomfort, I can acknowledge that the discomfort is mine. And it comes from the shame I feel as a white person of privilege. LEMOULT: DeSelms recounts the history of the music, beginning in 1619, when the first Africans were brought to America as slaves. And she says many people don't even realize which are Negro spirituals. DESELMS: So let's test our knowledge. (Singing) This little light of mine... UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) I'm going to let it shine. DESELMS: (Singing) Swing low... UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) Sweet chariot. DESELMS: (Singing) I've got peace like a river. UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) I've got peace like a river. LEMOULT: When a church buys sheet music, the composers or their estates usually get some of that money as royalties. But the enslaved people who composed this music were never paid for their art, so DeSelms had an idea, which she announced at the service. DESELMS: Today, we, as a church, will begin the practice of collecting royalties for the spirituals we sing and worship. Whenever we sing Negro spirituals, we will collect an offering that will support the development of Black musicians. LEMOULT: Those royalties, as they're calling them, will be donated to a nonprofit youth music program called Hamilton-Garrett Music and Arts in the majority-Black Boston community of Roxbury. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) Oh, Lord, kumbaya. Oh, Lord... LEMOULT: Seven girls in Hamilton-Garrett's youth choir, ranging in age from 10 to 17, rehearse as the program's executive director, Gerami Groover-Flores, directs. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) Somebody is crying, oh, Lord. Kumbaya.... congregationalsong.org/reparations-royalty-pilot-program/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= I spotted a link for something called the Center for Congregational Song and was already smelling extreme peecee clicking it. Surprise, it is! Whites must pay and pay and PAY, WAY more than they've already done, for the crime of their skin color and accomplishments. THIS IS ABOUT (((ENVY AND "REVERSE" RACISM))) -- nothing nobler than that. NN www.npr.org/2022/01/08/10...n-by-enslaved-african-peo ">Click for Full Text! Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 2.
#1. To: NeoconsNailed (#0)
Back in the 70's there was an old man at our church who, with earnest affectation, would sing a negro spiritual from time to time. If you closed your eyes when he was singing Sweet Little Jesus Boy, ...he still didn't sound black.
Come now, anything fakely or really African is holier than the Holy of Holies these days >;)
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