Hi There!

Welcome to my Blog, “When We Praise: Performing Gospel at Williams.” This blog is the brainchild of a project from my Africana Studies Senior Seminar at Williams College. My project takes an in-depth look at the Williams College Gospel Choir and brings the voices of its members together with those of theorists and academics in the field of Africana Studies to answer questions about gospel music, black identity, and performance. I contend that, far from being distinct subjects or questions, these concepts come into conversation with each other every day when you are a member of the gospel choir at a place like Williams.

When I became Senior Director of the Gospel Choir this semester, it did not take very long for me to realize that the group of talented singers I had been blessed with was one of the most enthusiastic and committed groups GC has ever had. The Williams College Gospel Choir has always been full of love and infectious fun. It has also always been incredibly diverse, the most diverse singing group on campus, in fact. Students of all colors, faiths and walks of life are not only welcome, but encouraged to join. Of course, given the racial significance of gospel music, the choir has always had a strong Black majority, and this year is no different.

As arguably the most interesting singing group on campus, the choir is more than accustomed to having projects done about them. At least one request a year has been made since I have been a member, usually by music majors who have been trained classically but want to experience a “different kind” of singing. They sit in at our open practices, record our singing, interview members, and some even join temporarily. This is all fine, but these “researchers” almost always leave without ever letting us see the final product. What do they write about us? What conclusions do they make? Do they see us differently than we see ourselves?

Part of my motivation for this project was to give the black members of Gospel Choir a different kind of voice. For many of them, if not all of them, this music is personal and powerful in ways that even their fellow choir members overlook, and in ways that cannot be captured after only a few practices or a performance. In other words, being part of this choir means more to them than just expanding their vocal range in rehearsal and belting out notes at the concerts. They take this music home with them and find meaning in it. I wanted to give them the space to express not only how they feel about gospel music and being in our choir but also how they feel about performing this type of music in a place like Williams.

Black college students, especially those of at primarily white institutions, are constantly trying to built an identity in a place that was not created for them and rarely molds to create sufficient and comfortable spaces for them. In such an environment finding a community in which you can grow and thrive is nothing short of essential to survival. For many of its members of color, Gospel Choir is that environment. It is a space where they are able to 1. tap into an important part of their identities and express themselves in a way that they see as genuine, 2. take refuge from the stress of school and the pressures of social life, 3. practice their religion (if applicable) in a familiar way, 4. interact and grow relationships with likeminded people as a source of ongoing support, and 5. share their culture with the greater community. Every member I interviewed shared these sentiments and considers gospel choir to be their home away from home.

But even amidst all this goodness, I have found, at least for me, that being a member of the Gospel Choir has forced me to think about some bigger questions, questions that my studies in Africana have only fueled. My goal in this project is to discover whether or not the black members of my choir, even with all their smiles and good spirits, wrestle with these same questions about cultural representation and black performance. These are questions that Africana Studies scholars are constantly addressing, but while the performance of blackness in other forms of black art have been studied, I do not believe a comprehensive study on the performance of Gospel has been done. Therefore, I hope to add my project to the existing literature of performance studies within Africana.

One of the final aims for my project was to engage these members in a discussion that goes beyond their personal experiences and the bubble that is Williams. Gospel music has a long and powerful tradition in the black community, particularly in the African-American community, and even as students at this tiny, predominantly white liberal arts college, they are carrying on that tradition in their own way. I hope to plant the first seeds (if they do not already exist) that will have my choir members questioning the role of gospel in activism in the past and how that might relate to the music of activism today. Again, I said seeds. These are not questions I plan to address in depth here but rather establish roots for. This is also a subject that has gotten very little attention in Africana, but seeing as how music has always been important in black activism, it is hardly a question that should be ignored. My hope is that this project adds to this conversation.

Thank you so much for choosing this site and listening to our story! Along with their insightful words, I hope that you also enjoy the choir’s beautiful voices and infectious joy! If you would like more information on how to navigate the site, please continue reading. Otherwise, have fun exploring!

Stay Blessed,

Sharldine Desire

 

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ORGANIZATION OF THE SITE

Each page consists of a video compilation addressing the question at hand. The second video, the focus of this project includes my extensive reflections about performance and its aspects. The videos are made up of gospel choir’s performances, practices, and interview recordings. A total of 6 students were interviewed for this project and incorporated at various degrees. Within my reflective discussion, you will find links to each student’s full interview transcript, which are all available in the “Appendix” tab. Here is a quick summary of each page. This paragraph will also head the pages themselves.

 

 

1. Why We Sing – The members of Williams College Gospel Choir answers questions about gospel music, being a member of gospel choir, and the impact it has had on them here at Williams. Because many members cited coming to Williams as a catalyst for their being a part of the choir, I tackle questions about migration and new environments as they relate to the evolution and role of gospel music for the black community. In what ways is the Williams College Gospel Choir continuing what Bernice J. Reagon calls the “sacred song tradition?”

2. Praise is What I Do – The choir members answers questions about performance as it compares to personal interaction with gospel music. What are the unique challenges of learning gospel music with the intent to perform it? Is praise complicated by the element of performance?  With the answers to these questions, I introduce performance theory in Africana and address my own questions as the director of this choir. Namely, what aspects of gospel performance are most important? Why, and who makes that decision? How is a “good performance” judged by me as director? By the choir?

3. The Spirituals [Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around/ Oh Freedom!] – The choir members consider the significance of singing such powerful songs and reflect on what they might mean for them in their own lives. They also answer questions about the changing role of gospel music within and outside of the black community. The questions I explore include: what does it mean to perform activism? Does the identity of “the actors” matter or is it the activism itself that it most potent?

4. Transcripts

Word Count: 1330