The most important takeaway for me from this course has been understanding how the history of gospel and music in general reflects the difficulties, hopes, and spiritual endurance of various communities across time. Learning where these sounds came from has changed my listening routines as I now hear not only melodies and harmonies, but also stories of resistance, religion, and cultural identity that continue to influence music today. Studying this history has helped me understand how genres are interconnected, and how artists build on what came before them to create something new with echoes of the past. My favorite discovery was Mahalia Jackson, especially her powerful performance of “How I Got Over” at the 1963 March on Washington, which showed me how gospel can function as both worship and a form of social and political expression.
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