Monday, January 21, 2002 at 4:53 PM African American church
music has played a continuing role in the civil rights movement
throughout history. Spirituals in particular have provided
solidarity and hope, when hope was in short supply. In the late
1930s, a Cleveland church choir achieved national fame through a
weekly radio broadcast that made its own impact on race
relations. 90.3 WCPN's David C. Barnett tells us about this
"joyful noise." David C. Barnett: Imagine a summer Sunday
morning on the eastside of Cleveland. People are walking to
church and there is a sound in the air. It’s not coming from
bell towers, but from radios - in most every house you pass.
Helen Turner Thompson: Everybody knew them. You could walk down
the streets of Cleveland and at 9:00 WGAR you would hear their
intro. Howard Roberts: If you left in time, you could hear the
complete program because I used to walk from E. 67th street
where I grew-up, down to 40th street where I attended St. John
AME church and all the way we could hear th