Music has brought about social justice and change across time — and, for the past 20 years, so has the peaceCENTER! Please join us by honoring such music through our guest speaker, Baylor Professor Robert Darden, author of “Nothing but Love in God’s Water: Volume I, Black Sacred Music from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement.” Bring family and friends. Bring peaceCENTER stories. Bring your smile and some melodia in your step! Birthday refreshments served. Free and open to the Public, but consider a birthday donation to honor the peaceCENTER — in quantities of 2s + 0s!
The first of two volumes chronicling the history and role of music in the African American experience, Nothing but Love in God’s Water explores how songs and singers helped African Americans challenge and overcome slavery, subjugation, and suppression. From the spirituals of southern fields and the ringing chords of black gospel to the protest songs that changed the landscape of labor and the cadences sung before dogs and water cannons in Birmingham, sacred song has stood center stage in the African American drama. Myriad interviews, one-of-a-kind sources, and rare or lost recordings are used to examine this enormously persuasive facet of the movement. Nothing but Love in God’s Water explains the historical significance of song and helps us understand how music enabled the civil rights movement to challenge the most powerful nation on the planet.
Robert F. Darden is an associate professor in the department of journalism, public relations and new media. He is the author of more than two dozen books and hundreds of magazine articles and is the director of Baylor’s Black Gospel Music Restoration Project. Mr. Darden is former gospel music editor for Billboard Magazine and author of “People Get Ready: A New History of Black Gospel Music” and “Nothing But Love in God’s Water: Black Sacred Music from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement, Volume I.” He also is also a frequent contributor to Huffington Post on the topics of black sacred music and the civil rights movement. With more than 30 years of journalism experience, Mr. Darden has been interviewed and featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” “Tapestry” (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.), C-SPAN and “Fresh Air.” Mr. Darden earned a bachelor of science in education focusing on journalism and art and a master of arts in journalism.
