C. Eric Lincoln

Protest and Praise

Arts & Literature

“Protest and Praise is the story of the coming of age of African America, seen through the prism of its music. A generation ago John Hope Franklin immortalized black history by chronicling the travail and triumphs of the African-American odyssey from slavery to freedom. Now Jon Michael Spencer adds to that immortal chronicle a new dimension: a searching analysis of the part black music played in this historic transition. The spiritual, the ring shout, the blues, the freedom songs, and gospel are all intensive expressions of the will to freedom and of the faithful response to the divine initiative that alone could make freedom a viable possibility. Jon Spencer's Protest and Praise is a valuable addition to the growing literature of scholarly self-examination from inside the black experience.”