The exodus from traditional religious spaces and the Black church has informed the discussion of Black religion as protest. Black religious cultures are represented in various art forms that also tend to be socially and politically charged. Even outside the rally of the Black church, religion has become a center of protest and spiritual liberation for many Black people.
Angela Davis describes this notion perfectly in her discussion of the flak against the blues genre by the traditional Black church. She observes, “from the vantage point of devout Christians, blues singers are unmitigated sinners and the creativity they demonstrate and the worldview they advocate are in flagrant defiance of the community’s prevailing religious beliefs”(Davis 124). Traditional Black religious spaces were rooted in patriarchy and respectability politics that excluded working-class black women.
Thus, it can be argued that the exodus from the Black church is not an exodus from religion, but instead is a movement away from the confines of patriarchy and respectability politics. The music of Gertrude “Ma” Rainey referenced by Angela Davis sought spiritual liberation, but it also critiqued traditional Black religious spaces for its inability to allow that liberation. Therefore, some of Rainey’s songs were both rooted in religious symbolisms and Black feminist ideals allowing religion to be her source of protest and spiritual freedom. Below is a song by Bessie Smith called “Preachin’ the Blues.” Although I do not reference her work above, she was another artist from the course with songs of religious references and inherent protest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUVdm4jUEwk
In addition, in “Dancing Revelations,” Thomas DeFrantz analyzes the important connection between Black religion and Black dance through Alvin Ailey’s dance composition Revelations. DeFrantz explains, “Ailey certainly perceived this ‘need for a change’ in terms of concert dance practice in New York City at the time he made Revelations” (DeFrantz 2). Defrantz acknowledges the limitations of Black dances attempting to engage in the dance community in New York City. Alvin Aliey used his platform to expand the reach of dance expressions in New York City by composing a socially charged performance. He chose this revolutionary performance to be one of the changes and development of Black religious culture, thus aligning the importance of protest and religion. It is important to emphasize the use of religion and religious symbolism in Black art because religion is a source for spiritual liberation which allows Black art to be all-encompassing and raw. Dance is a physically liberating space, but the component of religion allowed the revolutionary performance to transcend. Below I have included a praise dance performed four years about at the Art and Soul festival in Oakland, California. Although the festival is not a traditional religious space, it recognizes religion as important to the art and soul of the Black aesthetic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvjmoZTYffY
In conclusion, Black religion and Black protest are intertwined even outside traditional Black religious spaces in terms that Black religion informs Black art and protest. Black religion allows for the spiritual liberation that permits the soul within Black artworks to transcend. This liberation and transcendence of Black people in their artwork is inherently protest because Black people were not meant to survive or break beyond the confines of their oppression. Even though the Black aesthetic constantly shifts over time, each generation returns to religious roots in one way or another seeking spiritual liberation.