Spirituals, Minstrels, and the Legacy of Early Black Entertainers

Before the era of the episode, Black Vaudeville Performers Wore Blackface?, Black entertainers were often found on stage singing spirituals or in minstrel shows. In both cases, white people paid to see 'authentic' depictions of Black life, which, for them, had to trace back to slavery. This episode's guest is Professor Sandra Jean Graham, author of Spirituals and the Birth of a Black Entertainment Industry.

The legacy of spirituals on stage and even their minstrel parodies is that spirituals are still a part of American culture. They may not look or sound the same as folk spirituals during slavery, but they are what have lasted through 3 centuries.

Music Credit

PeaceLoveSoul by Jeris (c) copyright 2012 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/VJ_Memes/35859 Ft: KungFu (KungFuFrijters)