This is your place to publicly comment on the topics and issues addressed in Speaking of Faith programs. React in a personal way, and put into words what this program meant to you.

Submit Your Reflection about "Joe Carter and the Legacy of the African-American Spiritual."

Not in the Shadows (February 26, 2005)
I really enjoyed the program with Joe Carter. I first heard it on a Saturday morning before getting up. It was an uplifting experience to hear those songs as sleep slowly receded. Through written in troubled times they evoke a sense of hope and redemption that won't fade away.

Alan Paul Brink
North Liberty, IA (WVIK, 95.7 FM)

Giving Me Great Hope (February 27, 2005)
What an awesome experience it was to listen to Joe Carter, and his sharing of the Negro spirituals! Even though I'm white, I have always felt a certain connection to the history of the black people, and hearing how their story and their spirituals transcend suffering gives me an incredible amount of hope and uplift. Thank you!

Don Faust
Davenport, IA (WVIK, 95.7 FM)

Quote from Jefferson (February 21, 2005)
While I always enjoy Krista Tippett's insightful Speaking of Faith, the broadcast of February 20 with Joe Carter was especially gratifying. Mr. Carter's powerful message was worthy of his powerful voice. He delivered his reflections without the slightest trace of rancor or resentment, suggesting that deep inside he is the forgiving, compassionate person he hopes we shall all become.

Mr. Carter noted that in the days of slavery, it was the slavemaster who was the more enslaved party. That reminded me of a saying attributed to Thomas Jefferson: "Slavery is holding a wolf by the ears." In Jefferson's picture, both the man and the wolf are captive to the other, but only the man is fearful. Bravo, Mr. Carter! Brava, Ms. Tippett!

Thomas O'Herron
Silver Spring, MD (WETA, 90.9 FM)

Crossing the Divide (February 21, 2005)
What a wonderful program! I would love to hear more on the use of music in religious practice. Especially worth noting is the ease with which traditional African-American music as well as that of other groups crosses all sorts of cultural and religious boundaries when people want to sing it.

Stephen Finner
Barre, VT (WVPS, 107.9 FM)

All God's People Got A Place in the Choir (February 21, 2005)
I have loved listening to and singing spirituals since I was very young and would go to different churches in Southwest Pennsylvania, Southeast Ohio, and West Virginia with my dad. Imagine my surprise when at the advanced age of 49 I was told by my choir director that I couldn't sing them because I was not African American. I then pointed out that if that were true then our African-American tenor section leader shouldn't be singing the Northern European and English music in the regular choir! Sigh!

But I was never allowed to do it. Of course I could and did sing them in private but I felt as if a part of my own spirituality had been crippled. We now have a more enlightened director and I feel like I have been let out of jail. And the joy and the spirit must be coming through because every time I have done a piece, people of all racial persuasions stop me to say how it touched them. I loved your program yesterday with Mr. Joe Carter. It was magnificent. I am so sorry to hear that he is ill. I will keep him in my prayers. Music should have a history but it shouldn't have a color. Things of the Spirit are for all of God's children. Thank you again for a wonderful program.

Eileen Schmidt
Pasadena, CA (KPCC, 89.3 FM)

The Impact of Music on Worship (February 21, 2005)
I have always enjoyed listening to your show as I drive into the hospital to make rounds. The subjects are timely and provocative. This show was particularly important to me as it illustrated the impact that the vocalists and musicians can have on worship. Americans have long benefited from African-American Spirituals, no matter what their heritage or background. Joe's ability to sing about and describe a few of the important events of his life was impressive.

We don't always understand how God comes into other people's lives, nor do we understand how that interaction furthers the mission of the church. I learned something from his message that one does not always hear in church liturgies or sermons etc. We should all be more open to the people around us, no matter how old or ill they are. I am sorry to hear that he is ill and wish him the best. Thank you for bringing his message to NPR.

Bryan Hainline
Indianapolis, IN (WFYI, 90.1 FM)

Struck and Uplifted (February 21, 2005)
I am a white woman from Florida living in Mississippi; I listen to MPR every day, almost all day, usually while I am painting. I particularly enjoy Speaking of Faith on Sunday mornings before I go to mass. This is the first time I have ever written about any of the programs I listen to (I do not have a computer; my husband is doing this for me).

I was so struck, uplifted, and joyful yesterday morning to hear Krista's interview with Joe Carter. Please thank him for his stories and spirituals and his marvelous "old time religion" inspiration. I hope that someday his lecture tours will bring him to the Mississippi coast! I know he touched many hearts yesterday, black and white alike… and we can all learn a thing or two from the lady who "had her bags packed." God bless.

Betsi Burgess
Gulfport, MS (WMPN, 90.3 FM)

Can We Clone Joe Carter? (February 20, 2005)
I have only recently begun listening to Speaking of Faith, and am so impressed with the topics addressed and the guests on the program. However, this particular show not only touched me but gave me an "AHA!" moment. A little background on me will be helpful, first. I am the 57-year-old white granddaughter of a "Southern lady" from South Carolina. I never liked the way my grandmother would talk about the "little nappy headed darkies" and perhaps from that developed a sense of guilt over what we white people perpetrated on the Blacks.

As a committed Christian who believes God has a ministry for each of us, I have become involved in a prison ministry called the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP). I did not look for this ministry, it found me. I have been profoundly affected by my many experiences with the inmates that come through the program. It is my belief that our American society has continued to perpetrate a form of slavery on the Black people. Some, like Joe Carter, were fortunate to grow up in an intact family and neighborhood where stability, values, education, self-sufficiency, and appreciation of those that came before and their historical legacy, were the norm. Most of the men I meet in prison have had a strong female figure in their lives whom they very much love and respect, but the rest of the equation was missing. And now they are in prison.

I am a lover of history, and like it or not, feel connected to these men by virtue of my Southern heritage: what my people did to their people. As an Episcopalian I probably know more about Negro spirituals and have sung more spirituals than most if not all of the younger men. As I listened to Joe talk, and what a wonderful voice!, it dawned on me that this man needs to go into the prisons and tell his own story as well as the story of slavery and the music traditions that came from it. All I can do as an AVP volunteer is introduce some basic concepts and provide experiential learning opportunities for them. But something is missing, something I as a white person cannot give them. These men need to feel genuine pride, not only about themselves as individuals, but also as a people, in their collective history. No white man or woman can instill this, for obvious reasons. It will take people like Joe Carter, credible and respected Black people who are not afraid to go into the prisons and tell their own stories. As you might imagine, getting people of any race to volunteer to go into the prison environment is a challenge in itself.

I plan to order a tape of this particular show to use in our program, assuming that you give your "OK", and the prison administration will approve it. Thank you for an excellent program.

Melissa Hutton
Hagerstown, MD (WETA, 90.9 FM)

A Meaningful Dance (February 20, 2005)
I was deeply moved by this program. Just recently, I attended the Community Sing at the Levine School of Music, led by Ysaye Barnwell. We had sung many of the songs presented on the program. The music is transporting and now I understand the depth of it and why I was so moved. I thank you for expanding my life. I also admire Krista's gentle and probing questions. She seems to know how to speak to the heart and to the intelligence and makes me feel that there is a meaningful dance between the two.

Renee Dunham
Washington, DC (WETA, 90.9 FM)

Inspiring (February 20, 2005)
I want to make a standing ovation and shout more and more for today's program. Thank you. My awareness has been expanded and deepened. I can see ways to use this with negative thinking people and prejudiced from lack of awareness. A radiance of love and appreciation.

Jonelle Reynolds
St. George, UT (KUER, 90.1 FM)

The Opposite of Cheap, Shallow Religion (February 20, 2005)
I heard an interview with Joe Carter on the value of the old spirituals. He sang "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child." I endorse the program heartily. He emphasized the depth of the spiritual experience that brought them forth. This is the opposite of cheap, shallow religion. We need more of this. You asked for our favorites:

"Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child"

"There Is a Balm in Gilead

"Steal Away to Jesus"

"When the Love Come Twinkling Down (Seek, seek, seek and ye shall find)"

"Sister, Did You Hear When Jesus Rose"

"Were You There"

"Steal Away"

Louise H. Hudson
Vancleave, MS (WMAV, 90.3 FM)

More Programming Like This (February 20, 2005)
Although I rarely ever listen to NPR because of your liberal bias, I was captivated by Joe Carter and his teaching about the black spiritual this morning. I pastor a country church north of Meridian, Mississippi and drive from Jackson every Sunday. It's about a two-hour drive. When I got to church I told my congregation about the program and to learn more about Joe Carter by checking the future NPR scheduling and Web sites. Joe certainly knows music; he is an excellent teacher, and he knows the Bible well (which blesses my heart). Please do more of this type of programming and less of the political stuff. I often complain to Sen. Cochran about NPR, but this time I'll pay you a compliment and will listen again to this type of programming.

Rev. Charlie Rodriguez
Clinton, MS (WMPN, 91.3 FM)

A New Understanding (February 20, 2005)
I have just been introduced to SOF by a friend and was so very glad. What a find! Thoughtful and informative. I went to church after listening to the program on Sunday AM and one of the hymns we sang was "Wade in the Water." I was deeply moved by all that my new understanding about the spiritual added to my worship experience. Blessings and thank you. I only wish that the program were on slightly later in the morning — but I will set the alarm to make sure I am awake.

Peggy Myers
Hamden, CT (WNPR, 89.1 FM)

Fabulous Program (February 20, 2005)
I was enthralled with this program. It really spoke to me regarding the power that music has in lives — past and present. I appreciated hearing Mr. Carter's distinction between "blues" and "spirituals" as I had not thought about this before, and had unfortunately, almost used the terms interchangeably. I won't do that anymore! Yes, music can take us from pain — even temporarily. Thank you.

Marcia Relyea
Mount Clemens, MI (WUOM, 91.7 FM)

A Substitute for Corporate Diversity Training? (February 20, 2005)
First, let me say that I love your show, and admire the depth and breadth of what you bring to the discussion of matters of human faith in what is truly a remarkable program, which I hope will have a very long life. I also loved your interview this morning with Joe Carter on the African-American spiritual and the richness of the stories he shared, which connected so powerfully with the origins of the "sorrow songs" in the lives of the slave community, as relayed to him by his ancestors and others. Mr. Carter's seamless way of telling these stories through both word and song is both moving and powerful.

I did have one concern about a statement that was made twice on the show to the effect that the spiritual was all but forgotten until it was revived during the civil rights movement. While there was no other reference to the civil rights movement connection made later in the show, this historical moment for the spiritual was not an isolated public flowering of the spiritual, but the culmination of a rich history of the spiritual coming to wide public awareness at various turns in late 19th and then 20th century American culture; the forms in which this happened were quite varied, but the spiritual managed to maintain its integrity in the face of many cultural challenges. The show alluded to a couple of these moments in references to the "Wings over Jordan" choir and the great solo singers Paul Robeson and Marian Anderson.

But it is generally agreed today that the African-American spiritual might never have become as widely known around the world as it is today were it not for the former slave Ella Shepherd and the Fisk Jubilee Singers, who first performed the spirituals for concert audiences in landmark tours to the East Coast and European capitals in the years just following the emancipation — and this at a time when black-face minstrelsy had for years been the primary image of slave musical culture in America. Their story is most recently documented in a book and PBS video:

Andrew Ward, Dark Midnight When I Rise (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2000)

Jubilee Singers: Sacrifice and Glory produced by WGBH and Nashville Public Television for the PBS American Experience series: Llewellyn Smith and Andrew Ward

"'Shout All Over God's Heaven!': How the African-American Spiritual Has Maintained Its Integrity in the Face of Social and Musical Challenges." Choral Journal 45:1 [August 2004] p. 9-25. [Audio] samples are at http://www.acdaonline.org/cj/interactive/aug2004/

Thomas Lloyd
Havertown, PA (WHYY, 91.0 FM)

A Substitute for Corporate Diversity Training? (February 20, 2005)
I want to thank you for your thoughtful and "spirited" interview with Joe Carter. For me, it was a "driveway moment." I only intended to listen for a minute or two and it was so compelling that I listened for the rest of the show. Thank you so much for asking Mr. Carter what he thought about the fusion of slavery to Christianity and also about his feeling of "white people" celebrating the slaves' music.

In my ideal world, a recording of this show would be required listening by every single American, white and of color. It would do so much more than the superficial, cookie-cutter corporate "diversity training" classes taken so corporations can check it off their list. Wonderful!

Pat Klimas-Reinhardt
Grand Rapids, MI (WVGR, 104.1 FM)

Spirituals, Blues, and Jews (February 20, 2005)
Thanks for a fine show. I was struck when Mr. Carter mentioned that it was his Jewish friend who had first alerted him to his own musical heritage. Since the 1950s Jews have been strongly attracted to Black music, as players, producers, and even as writers. I know of other examples where Black-Jewish cooperation has had great results — I'm thinking of Thurgood Marshall and Louis Armstrong. I think the current disconnect between Black and Jewish artistic and political interests needs analysis. (Maybe you can even do a show about it.)

The only disagreement I have with the show's points is that there are elements of transcendence, of converting pain into beauty, of communicating with eternity, of purity and honesty, that are part of blues and jazz music, just as much as these achievements are part of spirituals.

Paul Simons
Levittown, PA (WHYY, 91.0 FM)

Spiritually and Intellectually Interesting (February 20, 2005)
Sometimes Speaking of Faith programs I find to be intellectually interesting, but not very spiritual. Yet again today you have been able to capture the essence of ALL THAT IS, THAT which is so mysteriously ever present if we were but conscious and turn to IT. Thank you Krista for Joe Carter and really bringing so much of THAT presence to me through your discussion and those beautiful Spirituals sung by Mr. Carter. I will e-mail this program to those I love.

Benjamin Gray
Cornwall, CT (WNPR, 89.1 FM)

Black Spirituals (February 20, 2005)
Your program featuring Joe Carter brings hope and sanity to the black community that is being drowned out by rap and all the negative aspects of black culture. May we, blacks and whites alike learn from the values, history, and mistakes we have made in the past.

Paul Kato
Fowlerville, MI (WUOM, 91.7 FM)

Growing in Faith (February 19, 2005)
Thank you for starting my Sunday morning so thoughtfully, smartly, movingly. I was moved by the thought of the slaves' spirituality as "mature" spirituality — that to grow in faith does not mean to grow toward warfare and resentment, but to grow toward "it is well with my soul."

Emily Hoffman
Reisterstown, MD (WYPR, 88.1 FM)

Quilts and Code (February 19, 2005)
I enjoy your show every time I tune in. The story of African-American Spirituals vs. "blues" was wonderful. It enhanced my appreciation of the dignity and forgiveness in the hearts of the slaves in America. I had heard of the ten or more differently patterned Gullah quilts hung out as codes for underground railroad on Simply Quilts. The sharing of real meaning of the spirituals was truly inspiring. Thanks for having Joe Carter explain and sing spirituals today.

Pauline Lebeyka
Eatontown, NJ (WNYC, 820 AM)

Music, the Great Uniter (February 19, 2005)
I just wanted to compliment you on today's program. I have never been so touched with history of the Black community. Music certainly unites heaven and earth. Thank you so much.

Luella Mathusek
Dumont, NJ (WNYC, 820 AM)

Spirituals Still Live? (February 7, 2004)
What a wonderful surprise to learn that the spiritual is not a dead art form. As a WASP growing up in Minnesota, the spiritual was, and is, a treasure of my childhood. I have often wondered why it is so little heard today. Thank you Joe Carter for instructing, inspiring, and challenging me. I look forward to the next time I hear you sing and teach.

My favorites? The ones that Mr. Carter sang on your program.

Robert Hall
Bronx, NY (WNYC, 820 AM)

A Better Understanding (February 8, 2004)
As a White American growing up in Chicago, I was first exposed to spirituals in grammar school and Sunday School. They were in our songbooks in both places. One we learned was "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." Later, listening to radio programs on WFMT hosted by Studs Terkel, I heard him play recordings of spirituals by Mahalia Jackson, who I believe lived in Chicago. Sometime later, I owned an LP of her singing spirituals and gospel tunes. The album was very uplifting. One song I recall was "In That Great Getting-Up Morning."

The comments by Joe Carter added to my appreciation of the role of spirituals in the lives of the slaves, particularly his comments about song as a way of reaching ancestors who would intercede with God. His comments will lead me to consider how I can gain greater spiritual benefit from the music I currently listen to.

Coincidentally, earlier this Sunday morning I heard an interview with one of the members of the "Wings Over Jordan" choir. The interview was conducted by Steve Cushing, as part of his program "Blues Before Sunrise" which is broadcast on WBEZ and other stations. The interviewee talked about how the choir members tried to embody the values of self-empowerment and self-improvement that Joe Carter talked about. Steve Cushing and the interviewee discussed the race-based difficulties that this all-Black choir faced as they toured America in the 1930's and 1940's.

I'm a fan of the Blues. They can teach us a lot, and put us in touch with our emotions, and show us how to live with and live through pain. However, I'm intrigued by the point Joe Carter made about the White commercial establishment preferring to exploit the image of the drunk or wanton Black male. Of course, the sex and violence of White people is also generally "sold" more than their spirituality.

Fred Meyer
Evanston, IL (WBEZ, 91.5 FM)

Amazing (February 8, 2004)
Thank you Joe. It was a wonderful afternoon today as we heard you on MPR and SOF. You have a beautiful voice. Thanks for bringing some grace into our lives today.

Brian Belgarde
La Crescenta, CA (KPCC, 89.3 FM)

Soul Blues (June 25, 2004)
First, thanks for a great show but the criticism of blues actually talked about only one small part of blues. It is about deep heartbreak and loss, triumph in serious undertakings, and humanity's place in the infinite universe, as well as getting drunk and finding sexual enjoyment.

Second, in talking about Gospel please don't forget the groups that use very modern and moving harmonies, chord progressions, and rhythms to bring love to body and soul. In particular I've been moved by Luther Barnes and the Red Bud Gospel Choir.

Paul Simons
Levittown, PA (WHYY, 91.0 FM)

Very Interesting (February 8, 2004)
What a wonderful way to spend the evening, driving back to Kentucky from Tennessee, listening to Mr. Joe Carter! Am looking forward to obtaining a copy for my U.S. History class. Delightful and educational!

Allen Brown
Shelbyville, KY (WEKU, 88.9 FM)

Keep the Spirit Alive (February 8, 2004)
This was a wonderful program. I especially liked the fact that it illustrated the context in which these African-American spirituals were composed and sung.

Our contemporary culture, while perhaps appreciative of these spirituals, has a tendency to treat and experience them superficially (e.g. "gospel brunches"). As this program illustrated, these spirituals are truly eternal music — a powerful testimony to the incredible faith, perseverance, hope and dignity of the people who composed and sang them.

Paul Matthew
Washington, DC (WETA, 90.9 FM)

I Didn't Turn This One Off (February 7, 2004)
I normally turn this program off. Tonight's program kept me tuned through 100 miles of slow driving icy roads. As a rule I tune out anything with even remotely religious overtones. Though this show had more of a historical perspective in my opinion.

Mark Olson
Twin Valley, MN (KNBJ, 91.3 FM)

Great Program! (February 7, 2004)
This was one of the best things we have ever heard on Public Radio! We re-played the program for all five of our kids.

James and Lisa Munis
Byron, MN (KZSE, 90.7 FM)

Great Program! (February 7, 2004)
Joe Carter sings with such feeling. We were swept away while listening. I am reminded that whenever one culture tries to destroy another both lose opportunity to benefit from the God-given gifts that each individual has. I am grateful that these spirituals that speak for many have been preserved.

Sherry Kooiker
Boyden, IA (KNSW, 89.3 FM)