Description
Book SynopsisUpon his arrival in the North, Frederick Douglass found, to his utter astonishment, persons who could speak of the singing among slaves as the evidence of their contentment and happiness. As late as 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois observed that African American spirituals had led naive whites to believe that life was joyous to the black slave, careless and happy. While these misconceptions have largely disappeared, the history of African American culture--and its importance to American history as a whole--is still a subject little understood by the majority of Americans. In Going Through the Storm, Sterling Stuckey offers a compelling look at one of the world''s richest cultural traditions. He traces the fertile legacy of African American art from its roots in tribal myth, through its blossoming in slave music and dance, to its fruition in the great gospel-singing movements of the 1960s. In the process he shows how this tradition, grounded as it was in adversity, represents one of the great trium
Trade Review"Stuckey skillfully explores the lives and/or cultural theory of significant personalities...to reveal crucial African cultural connections in the New World that are vital to African survival and transcendence."--Journal of American Ethnic History "Plenty of history and culture of all Afro-American artistic endeavors is included in a study which will attract readers seeking to link Afro-American culture and history with artistic evolution."--Diane C. Donovan, The Midwest Book Review
