To the citizens of the world, I offer you my love and comfort as we try to heal from the senseless hatred and violence inflicted on innocent lives in Paris last week and for far too long everywhere around the world including our own backyard here in America. I can think of no better way to comfort the weary and heartbroken souls than to share an African American spiritual with you. Music has always been used to uplift and console the listener. In American history our beloved slave brothers and sisters created these humble songs to comfort and heal their own pain and suffering. They also needed a way to communicate and release the feelings they had deep within their souls in a time when they were not allowed to have a voice. The spirituals, albeit secretly, also allowed the slave to teach their young, recorded their history and strengthen their beliefs and convictions that staying focused on freedom for all people would be achieved one day.
Sit back and relax as you watch the healing waters and the spiritual sounds of “Deep River” in this music video. I had the great honor of having the brilliant vocalist and musician Katreese Barnes, former and first female African American music director of SNL as a background vocalist on this song and on my album “GRATITUDE” a collection of African American Spirituals. God Bless and comfort you. Praying for peace.
Leave a Reply