The McDowell times. [volume] (Keystone, W. Va.) 1904-1941, 1938-06-24
KELLY MILLER SAYS
Continued from Page One)

| Continued from Page One)
| the psaltry and the Harp, the
Timbrel and Dance, the stringed |
instruments, and the loud sound
ling Cymbals and high sounding
lCymbals.
| We are thus reminded of the
original broadcast by the angelic
choir announcing upon the happy
air, Peace on Earth; Coed Will
Among Men,"
| Of all the Sunday morning
broadcasts which lombard t h e
throne of heaven, none are more
intense with spiritual meaning,
land power than those conveyed
in tn e jubilee melodies which
sprung out of the soul of I'M
sophisticated back folk. Of the
the numerous jubilee broadcast
none are more spiritually rever-
ant or appealing than "Wings
Over Jordan" sponsored by Dr.
, Suttle.
I The announcer of this broad
cast states each Sunday morn
1 ing that it is maintained by the
Columbia Broadcasting System
for the Negroes of America. A
; friend of mine who has always
been on the alert against racial
discrimination remarked, why
: to the Negroes of American" l
: have no doubt that there are 10
4 white to every Negro listener to
t wings Over Jordan" The
e spirituals sprung spontaneously
D from the Negro soul exposed to
e the peculiar environment of
1 American slavery. They did not
: Ioriginate in Africa nor yet in
, Latin America where the Negro
has had longer exposure to sla-
: very under the Spanish regime
n than in the United States. Just
n why the peculiar circumstances
n and situation of slave contact
e with the Anglo-Saxon race evok-
+ ed this peculiar plaintive lugu-
n brious moanful melody would
: furnish an engaging theme for
e an ambitious candidate f or the
e electorate. These spirituals
: furnish the C h / e contribution
which the Negro race in the new
o world has yet made to the gen.
r eral culture of the human spirit.
d Like all genuine spiritual utter
r ances, t h Sc sprituals are ex-
t pressed in the first person, sin
Il gular number; when l Went
g down in the Valley to Pray, No
t body Knows the Trouble l. See"
n There was no asslgnable au-
thorship, they are a social pro-
duct. Some unknown Negro with
$ voice little louder than the rest
caught the refrain and gave it
vogue. Some white eaves-drop-
y per overheard these plaintive
melodies and made them a part
of the musical repertoire of the
nation. They now contribute an
essential part of to the musical
literature of h e world. These
: spiriuals come directly from the
heart of the Negro and appeal
directly to the heart of mankind.
They have a special mission
and meaning to the would-be
i sophisticated Negro of h day
and generation and discover him
1 to himself, reminding him that
the chief contribution of his
race to the culture of the world
may not spring from the head,
. but from the heart. Nothing yet
: written in America surpasses
in spiritual and L yric appeal,
Swing Low Sweet Chariot" or
Steal Away to Jesus"
The Negro intelligentsia am
bilious to reveal to his white
competitors in abstract scientific
and philanthropic disquision was
at time disposed to apurn the
Jubilee melodies because of their
lowly origin. I can distinctly
remember when the choir of a
great Negro University disdain-
ed jubilee melodies in its music
al repertoire. Shakespeare tells
us somewhere Of the toad asham-
ed of the jewel in his head. But
the white race evinced the dis
position to take these melodies
UP where the Negro leaves off.
I'll today the Jubilee melodies
mold an important place in their
spiritual appeal
Negro voices alone can render
these spirituals with their orr
ginal intent and meaning. Jubi-
| Loo Ci,,,-u...