The Spirituals

Through all the sorrow of the Sorrow Songs there breathes a hope- a faith in the ultimate justice of things. The minor cadences of despair change often to triumph and calm confidence. Sometimes it is faith in life, sometimes a faith in death, sometimes assurance of boundless justice in some fair world beyond. But whichever it is, the meaning is always clear: that sometime, somewhere, men will judge men by their souls and not by their skins. Is such a hope justified? Do the Sorrow Songs sing true?”

-W.E.B. Du Bois, “The Souls of Black Folk” in 1903

The slave songs, The American Spiritual, were born from the injustices and sorrows of the deep south. These requiem melodies were passed through generations, ringing over fields of cotton, from one captive slave to another. The songs provided solace, expression and a sole voice for those who were not free. These photographs were shot as a part of a historical reproduction for the PBS documentary ‘The Spirituals’ produced by Dos Vatos Productions and directed by Ari Luis Palos.