Inquiry Proposal- McGill 1

Hadassah McGill Mrs. Thomas English 1103-010 10 March 2013

I was really confused and terrified to even think about writing this paper. I didnt know what topic I could possibly be interested in enough to captivate both my attention and the attention of a grand audience. It took the scenario mentioned below to truly inspire the interest in my topic and provoke my question. I wasnt sure, even after finding a question, how I was going to prove that it is researchable or even important enough to attempt to raise an interest in my family and friends. It was my own curiosity in my Black-American race to seek to understand why we do things differently, specifically in this case, why we praise differently, that gave me the strength to explore. I am hoping that my proposal captivates my audience as much as it has captivated my curiosity and that I am adequately able to answer this enthralling question about music for different cultures. Hope you enjoy!

A Different Way to Praise and Worship Have you ever wondered what makes African American music sound different than, say, Caucasian American music? I have often found myself thinking about it while listening and singing along to many different genres of music. Being of African American decent and having the talent to sing, I have been asked why Black people sing the way they do, with many rifts and much emotion, and I never could answer the question adequately. But what struck my fascination was the difference in the way Blacks and Whites sung praises in church. I noticed the style of worship takes two different forms between the two cultures and I set out to explore why. I want to know why the African American Community sing songs of praise differently and why they are accepted by only a particular group of people as opposed to Caucasian American Christian music. With my thesis paper, I hope to address the very findings in a manner that will convey to both me and my audience the reason why blacks praise differently. Many people view the act of Praise and Worship to be represented in a variety of ways. Many assume that African-American gospel music is aggressive, rambunctious, loud, and simultaneously powerful. In fact, this form of gospel music can be considered powerful to many people, because the very definition of gospel is spreading the word of God, which is a powerful attribute in itself. However, the more negative descriptions of this genre of music are the very descriptions placed on the entire African-American race. Being that these generalizations are not always factual (or welcomed), I am determined to prove that the same applies to this scenario as well. On the contrary to popular belief, it is from African-American music that many other genres

Inquiry Proposal- McGill 2

stem from and where much musical inspiration is derived. Perhaps it is this through this analysis that has made me want to uncover the truth about why people praise differently. It is true to say that Christian music is sung and performed very differently for cultures. In this essay, I will explore and closely examine why African-American praise and worship is different than that of other cultures, more specially Caucasian-American. I know that religion is practiced in very different ways all across the globe. What may be considered religiously acceptable for one family or race of people may not be for another. Going to church is socially acceptable and expected or at least in my home. Music! It is the one thing I need to get me going on a Sunday morning on my way to church. I love a variety of things and in my opinion it has a lot to do with my personal explorations to find a sound of music that I like. I was provoked by an experience with music that allowed me to ponder this subject and cultivate my question about why people praised differently, or at least why African Americans praise and worship music sounded so different. One day I woke up to get ready for church and I needed my inspiration to get me going; I needed music. I turn on my Pandora playlist and I begin to sing along to an up and coming Christian Contemporary artist, David Dunn s beautiful songs, Heart Stops. My niece, who loves to cuddle up beside me in bed, is captivated as she dances along with my sultry voice, the upbeat tempo of the song, and vibrant beat of the sound while the words easily roll off of my tongue
Tell me what youd do if/ you knew this for sure/ That every breath that you breath/ Will be accounted for/ Would it make a difference/ If you knew that all your life/ Is being seen by the maker of all? And if your heart stopped nonstop And if your heart stopped nonstop If your heart stopped beating/ The end of all you know/ Has the life you just stopped living/ Left anything to show?/ Have you wasted so much time!?/ Do you know what itd be like/ If your heart stopped beating? Beating, beating, beating, If your heart stopped beating Beating, beating, beating, if your heart stopped beating And if your heart stopped nonstop And if your heart stopped nonstop

My voice allows the last line to slowly fade when I look up to see my grandmothers face staring at my door frame. She is scowling at me; her look is less than approving. I defend myself by saying, this is gospel music or Christian Contemporary music, whatever you want to call it and she yells back as she is ascending the staircase to her bedroom, NOT FOR ME IT AINT!

Inquiry Proposal- McGill 3

I am taken aback by this. A feeling of defense instantly overwhelms me. I am not singing to my niece about sex, drugs, drinking, and other violent, provocative, or destructive lyrics. But instead Im asking her to stop and think about what would ha ppen to her if she died today. I have grown accustomed to believing that I will go to Heaven after my life on this Earth is complete, but does everyone believe that? The song asks you to think about how you are living your life and if in fact, it is a life that is pleasing to the Lord. How is it that the same message can be sung, phrased, or expressed in many different ways but only be accepted in some forms by different people? In other words, the performance is different, but the message could be exactly the same and still shunned by a particular group of people that accept the message but not the way it is delivered. This is the curiosity that has provoked my research and inspired the question: why do people praise differently? Growing up, I quickly learned that music is diverse and that it comes in many forms (which is what makes music so unique and creative), but I was a little confused at how a Christian woman turned her nose up at a Christian artist most certainly singing about the same God they share. I began to explore a few things and I found that many people would attribute the cultural difference to background experiences. For Blacks it would most certainly be linked to the experiences that slavery brought about. And so, with that, I began to explore and see if this was true; I wanted to know if slavery and the history of the Black mans oppression had anything to do with the reason why African American people sing with great contrast to that of White folks. In this essay, I will explore various forms of Christian music. I will compare how and why music, specifically gospel music, is represented differently and accepted or not accepted by different cultures. I am hoping that my findings will answer a lot of the questions that many people are afraid to ask about the African-American culture, but are so quick to judge without actually taking the time to learn. I seek to indulge in a cultural experience that will divulge many of Historys unanswered secrets about the Caucasian-American race as well as my own, African-American race and the history of our music and worship.