I remember a convo I had with my uncle who talked about the continual interest that certain antagonists have had in the black populations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and NYC somewhat.
All of these cities musically have carried a legacy that is spiritually rooted deep in the old south. The formula for the Gospel music of old is a mixture of Christian spiritualism and disguised carryovers of the religious systems our ancestors came with on the ships. The steady beats, claps, stomping and alternating harmonies of voices and sounds emulated the same methodology of worship that provoked stages of trance...this legacy of transformative power is likened to a virus by certain antagonists outside of the confines of the South.
Detroit has the likes of Mattie Moss Clark, James Moore, Aretha Franklin, Clark Sisters, The Winans, Della Reese, Commissioned and Vanessa Bell Armstrong amongst others..Detroit’s strong legacy with Gospel helped give birth to Motown.
Chicago has James Cleveland, Milton Brunson and the Tommies, Mahalia Jackson, Albertina Walker, The Staples Singers, Thomas Dorsey, Etta James, etc..Chess Records being being directly brought into prominence by pioneers whose start began in Gospel.
Los Angeles’ legacy starts off with being the foundation for the birth of the Church of God In Christ and the Black Pentecostal movement via the Azusa Street Festival. James Cleveland moved to LA in the sixties and brought that Chicago touch by starting the Gospel Workshop of America to the black gospel scene. Andre Crouch, Walter Hawkins, Linda Mcrary and others..many leading gospel artists in Detroit, NY, Chicago, TN and so on also wound up relocating to LA helping popularize gospel. One of the most famous gospel record labels in GospelCentric in Inglewood.
I wonder if this generation is even remotely aware of these powerful legacies, musically and spiritually, that exist in their cities and the consistent endeavors by some to destroy it out of their communities and people by any means necessary.