234 pages, 6 x 9
32 b&w illustrations
Paperback
Release Date:23 May 2022
ISBN:9781496840189
Hardcover
Release Date:23 May 2022
ISBN:9781496840172
Songs of Slavery and Emancipation
University Press of Mississippi
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This work would certainly make a strong teaching text for future students and
scholars interested in finding sources about slave resistance from enslaved (singing) voices.
Ultimately, Callahan helps to demonstrate how enslaved and abolitionist songs in America
became 'a powerful weapon against slavery and anti-Black racism,' still holding great
relevance to this day.
Taken together, the book, CD’s and film offer an important window into nineteenth century black protest music. They also offer a fascinating view of how enslaved people resisted the circumstances of their oppression, even at the risk of their lives.
The contents of this book are, quite simply, fascinating and any reader with an interest in the history of slavery, the history of the U.S and the history of American music should have this down as one for their wish list but it’s a book that will have a wider appeal than just to those directly interested in the subject matter, because it also represents some outstanding research and a fascinating story about how these songs were brought together and what they mean for society as a whole.
The book and the record album constitute a rather rare gift: a rich trove of material that is highly edifying and simultaneously entertaining, an excellent pedagogical and research resource.
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Mat Callahan's carefully documented and richly interpreted book is the first modern comprehensive compilation of the musical archive of Black resistance to slavery and abolition. I cannot praise this labor of scholarly passion and conscience enough. It is a game changer in the histories of musicology and abolition.
Mat Callahan's Songs of Slavery and Emancipation restores to view a wonderful trove of verses that give us access to the voices and lived experience of enslaved African Americans and their abolitionist supporters. It is an invaluable historical and musical resource.
Mat Callahan unearths important new evidence concerning the creative, subtle, and persistent resistance of enslaved Black people in the US.
This book is itself an act of liberation. Guided by inspired scholars/activists, we discover long-buried songs that remind us of a burden still not fully shed, but also of the extraordinary grit, creativity, and perseverance of those who have fought the good fight.
.. His recent projects include the republication of Songs of Freedom: The James Connolly Songbook by Irish revolutionary James Connolly; the recording and publication of Working-Class Heroes: A History of Struggle in Song: A Songbook; and the launch of the multimedia project Songs of Slavery and Emancipation, which includes this book, an album of song recordings, and a film.