Farrelly prompt #6

    Up to this moment in the history of the gospel, I have felt that learning about the spirituals has been the most impactful on me. Learning about spirituals in this class has been really impactful for me because it opened my eyes to a part of American history I didn’t fully understand before. Before this, I didn’t realize how deeply spirituals were connected to both faith and freedom. I learned that these songs weren’t just about religion; they carried secret messages of hope, escape, and resistance during slavery. If I hadn’t studied them, I might never have known how these songs helped enslaved people keep their faith, build community, and express emotions when they couldn’t speak freely. Learning about the hidden meanings, the history of performers like the Fisk Jubilee Singers, and how spirituals traveled through generations made me see them not just as old songs, but as living pieces of culture that tell the story of survival and strength.