A, Woman, Class of 2018
\nInterview Transcription
\n(Filler words such as \u201cum\u201d have been omitted)<\/p>\n
Sharldine Desire: When did you first start singing gospel music and why?<\/strong> <\/p>\n Word Count: 2090<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A, Woman, Class of 2018 Interview Transcription (Filler words such as \u201cum\u201d have been omitted) Sharldine Desire: When did you first start singing gospel music and why? A: Ever since I was young and I went to church at Brooklyn … Continue reading
\nA: Ever since I was young and I went to church at Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. So for as long as I remember, I\u2019ve never not heard gospel music.
\nSD: You\u2019ve never not sung it either?<\/strong>
\nA: Yeah
\nSD: Did you like it right away? And what about it kept your interest?<\/strong>
\nA: Yes, it\u2019s basically part of my culture, even though I am African, we do borrow from gospel in our own songs at the same time\u2026we do sing that. So when we\u2019d gather around to pray, before every prayer is praise. So we\u2019d sing gospel songs\u2014maybe we\u2019d sing a gospel song and then we\u2019d sing an African religious song\u2026
\nSD: Yeah it\u2019s very much the same for me, being Haitian. So why did you join gospel choir at Williams? What was your motivation for that?<\/strong>
\nA: That\u2019s a great question. Part of the reason why I joined gospel choir\u2014it was actually my default option\u2026I tried out for Purple Rain and I didn\u2019t get it so I decided to try gospel choir. I think one of your members referred me to it. But I think it was like a blessing in disguise in the sense that like where I am now, I can\u2019t see myself even being part of another group because gospel choir has just become such an integral part of my being here at Williams. And also Naomi, whose a member, she sort of made me feel comfortable going there because I knew I\u2019d have a friendly face.
\nSD: So going off that, how do you think being part of gospel choir has impacted your life here so far?<\/strong>
\nA: I think it\u2019s definitely\u2026the people I\u2019ve met, they\u2019ve definitely changed my views on a lot of things. I tell this to people at home, that gospel choir is like my family inside of Williams in the sense that like\u2026I often find myself unable to have a space where I can be myself and just be free to discuss everything I want or just act goofy, make jokes\u2026but when I\u2019m at gospel choir, the atmosphere is just very welcoming, inviting and just carefree. It\u2019s like that place that you know you\u2019re definitely going to de-stress, and all the work that you\u2019ve gone through, all the troubles that you\u2019ve been through for that week, you just come there and you just unwind\u2026
\nSD: How do you interact\u2014or do you interact\u2014with gospel music outside of the choir?<\/strong>
\nA: Yeah actually\u2026like gospel choir coupled with a conversation I had with one of my friends sort of helped me shift spiritually, like a sort of spiritual growth. So that conversation plus being surrounded by Christ and people who want to be Christ-like has definitely changed me in many ways. For example, I don\u2019t listen to secular music anymore, in fact all I listen to is gospel music and at times I find myself…that\u2019s all I\u2019m singing and some of the songs bring me to tears and I\u2019m just like\u2026this was not me prior to gospel choir and the people I\u2019ve met prior to gospel choir.
\nSD: So what\u2019s the difference, do you think, when you\u2019re singing or listening to gospel music by yourself and when you\u2019re learning a song or performing a song with GC?<\/strong>
\nA: When I\u2019m listening or singing on my own it\u2019s more personal, like it\u2019s just me and God and at the point I\u2019m very vulnerable cuz it\u2019s just us, just me and God in that moment and I will sing with all my might unrestrained and it just hits closer to home. I\u2019ll listen to the lyrics and not just listen to it but also apply it to my life. It becomes a part of me. But with GC it take a while with that only because of the structure and you definitely need structure because it\u2019s a gospel choir, but that\u2019s just the difference because when you\u2019re in GC you\u2019re trying to learn a song and do the song justice by fulfilling every component, whether you\u2019re a alto, tenor, soprano or a bass. So in GC I\u2019m basically singing the words but there\u2019s no meaning after until I take those songs to my room and I sing them and I start really feeling it.
\nSD: Good, so do you enjoy the performance aspect of GC?<\/strong>
\nA: Definitely\u2026after our first concert I received a lot of feedback about our performance in general and how it touched a lot of people who were not necessarily spiritual and they said that it really made them reconsider that. It\u2019s just being able to directly be a tool used by God to impact people. If God gives you a talent, you better use it and by you using it, it\u2019s helping in his overall and general will.
\nSD: So kind of related to that, if you want to say anything more\u2014how do you think it\u2019s read here at Williams? How do you think gospel music and our performing it is read or understood?<\/strong>
\nA: From my understanding, our generation or our group, our gospel choir group is different from anything Williams has seen. I mean there\u2019s been gospel choir since I don\u2019t know when but we\u2019re definitely not the first. We have freshmen who came in, we have just new people but after Mountain Day, a lot of people said that they were really with it because of our rendition of \u201cThis Little Light of Mine\u201d and \u201cGo Tell It.\u201d It was more of a contemporary rendition and it wasn\u2019t all like\u2026I don\u2019t know, normally gospel music has a tendency to be overpowering and people often feel uncomfortable because maybe they don\u2019t understand it but we perform our songs, and even on Mountain Day, in a way that\u2019s more relatable to students.
\nSD: What role do you think gospel music has played throughout history in the black community?<\/strong>
\nA: I think gospel music in general, the whole merit of it is that it got black people, oppressed people through the hard times. And even in the songs, when you listen to the lyrics, it\u2019s the desperation of a group of people who have been oppressed and they\u2019re conveying that desperation into words. So the power that is exuded through those lyrics, it\u2019s just something phenomenal in the sense that you have this group of people that were oppressed but were still able to create this beautiful art so it\u2019s just a true testament to that group of people.
\nSD: So do you think it still plays that role in the black community today?<\/strong>
\nA: Um\u2026I think we\u2019re definitely in a different time. We don\u2019t sing the \u201cOh Freedom\u201d or the Negro spirituals as much because we\u2019re not in that time period per se. I feel like gospel music now is meant to sustain your faith and it\u2019s meant to also help recruit and evangelize, where as gospel music in the past was meant to get people through a hard time.
\nSD: But for you, doesn\u2019t it still do that?<\/strong>
\nA: Get me through hard times? Absolutely. It\u2019s just something that I know. Each song is different and there are also different songs that cater to my situation. For instance, when I\u2019m feeling down I\u2019ll listen to \u201cMy God is Awesome\u201d and know that he is great. I can listen to \u201cTake Me To The King\u201d and know that other people have struggled the way I\u2019ve struggled and they found God and sought God to get them through it.
\nSD: How about outside of the black community? So it seems that even for you here at Williams, for people going through their own struggles in the modern time, gospel is still that thing that keeps them going in a lot of ways, but do you think that it does the same thing outside of the black community? Do you think that it has a similar effect on other groups of people?<\/strong>
\nA: Like white people?
\nSD: White people, other people\u2026<\/strong>
\nA: Um\u2026no, because it\u2019s not in their history. It\u2019s a part of black history, it was created by blacks\u2026so you know, I can\u2019t speak for all white people but I feel like a white person can listen to the same gospel song that a black person is listening to and take the lyrics and the words at face value and be like \u201cOh it\u2019s a catchy tune\u201d but they don\u2019t really understand the gravity of the words, whereas a black person may appreciate it more because the art is just so purely rooted in what a black person\u2019s history has come from. So I don\u2019t think\u2014like for instance, there were some songs performed by gospel choir where it was a struggle because the choir is generally mixed, which is great, but at the same time you had\u2014I noticed that the African-American or black students in the group, they would sing the song with all their might and their power but the non-blacks in the group, they didn\u2019t necessarily convey the passion and emotion behind the words. It seems like just words to them, while an African American student will actually feel the words.
\nSD: Okay, so those are all the official questions but I kind of just wanted to hear a little but about\u2014and you spoke to it, definitely\u2014but your personal experience at the concert. Like the audience and what it was like for you, this was your first concert and the first thing that had our name on it, so what was it like for you on stage?<\/strong>
\nA: Prior to gospel choir, I never really sang in public or never really sang at all because I\u2019ve had a couple bad experiences with that and I never really got any good feedback so my confidence with that was really low but with building it with gospel choir and growing as a singer, a vocalist\u2014it was just nice to see that a lot of people had good feedback on my performance and the whole entire performance in general. I didn\u2019t realize how your voice could be a tool, like I said before, for God, and that my voice could be a tool and that I could help with that overall agenda. I think gospel choir, that performance, definitely reassured me that I can do it and that this is something I want to continue doing. But I was definitely surprised at myself for being able to do that because right before I was extremely, extremely nervous and I don\u2019t really have a lot of confidence in it but afterwards, the feedback I got definitely reassured me that I\u2019m in the right place.
\nSD: And how important do you think the audience is\u2026and their reaction? Like how important was it for you that they reciprocated?<\/strong>
\nA: Well when I\u2019m performing I try not to look at the audience because it just makes me nervous but I noticed when other people were performing the looks on their faces\u2014it was a look that I\u2019ve seen before, only because gospel choir performed earlier in the year at a church that\u2019s like 30 minutes away from here and the church is definitely not a \u201cblack church,\u201d it\u2019s very structured and they sing the hymns, it\u2019s definitely nothing that I was used to and definitely far from Baptist, Lutheran type churches that I\u2019ve seen so when we sang our songs and everyone\u2014their eyes opened and people were getting out of their seat and people were getting their phones out because I could tell that they had never been exposed to gospel music and the beauty of it and how pure and great gospel music can be. And I think we got that same reaction at the concert in the sense that people didn\u2019t understand\u2014like it\u2019s one thing to hear gospel music, it\u2019s another thing to see it performed. And when you see it performed and the acoustics are just right and it just fills the whole room\u2026it has the propensity to invite the Holy Spirit in and I think that that\u2019s what a lot of people were feeling, they just didn\u2019t know what it was. That feeling where they just can\u2019t put their thumb on it, there\u2019s just something there. And one thing that I kept hearing was that this performance gave them chills, what is that chill? They don\u2019t know what that chill is but they know that it gave them chills\u2026<\/p>\n