Negro Spirituals are an accumulation of black history. Randy Jones’s “The Negro Spiritual: From Cotton Field to Concert Hall” explains that the genre stems from slavery; the spirituals would encapsulate themes of freedom, hope, and faith. After being forced to assimilate into the Christian faith, the hymns would be used to communicate messages between one another. Specifically, to communicate escape plans. One of my personal favorites is “Wade in the Water”. It is speculated that the song is meant to be a warning. Jacob Uitti explains in “Behind the Meaning of the Classic Gospel Song ‘Wade In The Water” that the song was meant to convert enslaved people to abandon the trail they were walking and hide in the water to prevent dogs from sniffing them out and hunting them. Overall these spirituals have had a lasting impact on African American culture. Within our community, music remains a staple, an outlet that conveys heart-wrenching messages of survival, pain, and triumph.