Mahalia Jackson
1911-1972 20th century
Sung prayer: to lift up hope when the voice carries what words cannot say.
Who was Mahalia Jackson?
A daughter of New Orleans and granddaughter of a slave, she carried the gospel of the Black church to the great stages of the world, never consenting to sing the secular blues. Her voice accompanied the civil-rights movement; for her, singing was a way of praying and of holding fast in hope.
In their own words
Blues are the songs of despair, but gospel songs are the songs of hope.
When you sing them you are delivered of your burden. You have a feeling that there is a cure for what's wrong.
It's easy to be independent when you've got money. But to be independent when you haven't got a thing, that's the Lord's test.