The Beginning of Negro Spirituals

Negro Spirituals has had a long-lasting impact on the black community, as these spirituals were created during slavery and are still sung today.  This was a form of religious music that had a call and response pattern, consisting of clapping and dancing. Many slaves used spirituals as a way to express their yearn for reaching freedom one day and returning to their homelands. Spirituals were also based on real life events and the different things many slaves experienced. Negro Spirituals helped them through slavery times and gave them sacred spaces to worship through God in their own way. Personally, I never noticed the call and response technique was highly used in negro spirituals. Growing up in church, singing many songs, I never noticed the specifics in spirituals and how they have been kept the same since slavery times. This shows the importance and sacred long lasting impact negro spirituals have had on the black community. Below is a video example of a negro spiritual being sung in the movie “12 years a slave”.