NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — This Black History Month, we’re taking time to highlight the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Their songs have inspired communities since the late 1800s, and they're still going strong today.
This historically Black college and university has produced several well-known Civil Rights leaders. But during the movement, many college students also played a crucial role in the fight for racial equality. Their efforts were often fueled by the powerful words of Negro spirituals.
One such song, "This Little Light of Mine," became an anthem during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, empowering activists as they fought for racial equality.
"Could you imagine having cigarette butts and food poured on you in those sit-ins? Dogs, fire hoses. Water hitting you every which way. Being beaten, being hurt, being gassed. This was every day, with no break in between." Fisk University Assistant Professor of Music Gwendolyn Brown said.
Relying on the strength of a song can be traced back to enslaved individuals, who used spirituals to pray and hope for something better.
Negro spirituals and hymns, popularized and preserved by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, have played a crucial role in carrying on the African American musical tradition, according to the group's current director, Dr. G. Preston Wilson Jr.
"We may not necessarily need the man above to part a Red Sea, but we might need protection for a protest. We might need protection for mental health." Director of Fisk Jubilee Singers Dr. G. Preston Wilson Jr. said.
The messages within these songs remain powerful, continuing to resonate in modern movements like Black Lives Matter.
Next month, the Fisk Jubilee Singers will make their ECHO Chamber Music Series debut at Centennial Park.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at aaron.cantrell@newschannel5.com
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