Calvin Earl
As A Singer / Songwriter / Guitarist / Storyteller / Activist - I Share The Stories And Music Of Our Americana Musical Heritage & History.

Video Honoring Our Spirituals!

I love the African American Spirituals. They saved my life, so I wanted to save them! I want to share with you my successful journey securing support in the US Congress to recognize the African American Spirituals as an American National Treasure in 2007. The slaves used these secret and sacred songs not only as a healing tool for themselves, but also the songs secretly ensured a path to freedom for themselves and future generations. I was inspired and determined to find a way to honor the slaves and their beloved original music.

In 2006, I became the Honorary Spokesperson for the Twin Resolutions I presented to the US Congress to recognize the African American Spiritual as a National Treasure and honor the slaves for their gifts to our nation with our deepest gratitude and respect. It took people willing to lend their support and their voices in joining me in my dream to recognize the African American Spiritual a National Treasure. Watch this video as we successfully ensured the passage of H. RES. 120 and S. RES. 69 by unanimous vote in 2007! Continue the celebration of our beloved National Treasure!

Join The Conversation About A Path To Freedom

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The spirituals were created by the slaves as a way to have a one on one conversation with God. As human beings we all need a way to find comfort, and a way to feel that our lives matter, the slaves were no different. No one wants to be invisible and unappreciated. The fact is, their lives of servitude were paramount to the survival of a new nation, without their labor, the founding fathers wouldn’t have the financial means to put forth their bold agenda for our fledgling nation. However, in real time for the human beings labeled slaves, their value was limited to their labor, and their worth as fellow human beings was obliterated by the social strategy to consider the slaves only 3/5th’s human. The slaves had no voice, they were not allowed to keep their African culture, not allowed to use their sacred drums to create music as they had done for thousands of years in Africa because their new masters knew they were able to communicate with the drums, so it was strictly forbidden. The slaves were taught Christianity and they actually related to the stories in the Bible with Moses leading his people to freedom. They clearly understood that there was a force we call God far greater than themselves, so they reached out to God in these songs for comfort, justice and unconditional love their souls knew belonged to them in spite of the self image they were taught to believe about themselves.

As the Christian Franciscan priest – Fr. Richard Rohr states: “By contemplation we mean the deliberate seeking of God through a willingness to detach from the passing self, the tyranny of emotions, the addiction to self-image, and the false promises of this world. It is a journey into faith and nothingness. The ordinary rules of thinking, managing, explaining and fixing up the self do not apply here. It is a search for God, a love of the larger Truth, and not the mere manipulation of ideas and feelings inside the private self. Contemplation is the “divine therapy” and the perennial clearinghouse for the soul. All the great world religions recognize it’s necessity in their more mature stages. For Christians, it is Jesus’ sojourn in the desert for forty days and Mary’s Let it be done unto me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38).

For the slaves, the spirituals were “divine therapy” and “the perennial clearinghouse for their souls.” Make no mistake, the spirituals were a path to freedom for the slaves. And as they sung to God through a moan and groan, the cry was so deep God heard, and His comfort gave the slaves strength, courage and the grace to go on in the fight to free themselves from the label of being called a slave not only for themselves but for generations of their children not yet born.

Peace and love all around. Calvin

Remembering our ancestors with love and gratitude!

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Ralph Ellison stated in his book the Invisible Man: “When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.” In my own journey to understand who am I and why am I here, I needed to know why the African American spirituals were such an intricate part of who I am. I set out to find the answers and what I found was, I had to first understand and know more about my enslaved ancestors who created this extraordinary music I love in the context of American history.

For those of us like myself whose ancestors were born in slavery in America, the African American spiritual songs hold within them the key to our African American cultural heritage and America’s oral history. The African American perspective is a vital and important part of American history that should not be segregated out of our educational curriculum but rather included as American history in it’s totality. When I realized that our history was not only invisible, it was disappearing I had to do something. The truth is, this is not a black story, this is not a white story. This is a “We The People” story. Whether our ancestors arrived here willingly or by force, those who survived the journey to the “New World” all knew they would have to depend on each other just to survive, let alone build a country. I couldn’t stand by and watch our oral history and the original sound and intention of the spirituals created by our slave brothers and sisters disappear from existence. That is why I asked then helped move the US Congress in 2007 to an unanimous vote to honor the slaves for their gifts to our nation with our deepest gratitude and respect and recognize the African American spiritual as a National Treasure.

This February after a performance of my one man show “A Path To Freedom” an African American couple came up to me and I’ll paraphrase what they said, “Thank you Mr. Earl, you made me feel like I belong here in America for the first time in my life. Our ancestors really were a vital and important part of American history, like you said in your show, without all of us, there would be none of us. Please keep telling your story, you changed our lives for the better”.

I believe it is vital to humanity and our diverse American culture to preserve and understand the African American spirituals because these songs are America’s oral history, and represent an entire group of citizens whose contributions to our nation are immeasurable in building a nation and have for far too long been invisible and discarded. Unless we unlock the true essence of the African American spirituals and learn about the slaves who created them, this vital part of American history could be lost forever.

Enjoy this video remembering our ancestors with love and gratitude.

Twin Resolutions pass in the US Congress!

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#ILoveTheAfricanAmericanSpirituals
I want to share and celebrate the journey of the African American Spiritual becoming recognized as an American National Treasure in 2007 with you. Knowing the slaves used their original music, that we know today as African American spirituals, as a tool to ensure a path to freedom for themselves and future generations, I was inspired and determined to find a way to honor the slaves and their beloved original music.

In 2006, I became the Honorary Spokesperson for the Twin Resolutions I presented to the US Congress to recognize the African American Spiritual as a National Treasure and honor the slaves for their gifts to our nation with our deepest gratitude and respect. It took people willing to lend their support and their voices in joining me in my dream to recognize the African American Spiritual a National Treasure. Watch this video as we successfully ensured the passage of H. Res. 120 and S. Res. 69 by unanimous vote in 2007! Continue the celebration!

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