A companion series to the 2021 docuseries, “The Black Church,” and executive produced and narrated by Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., directors Stacey L. Holman and Shayla Harris’ latest docuseries, “Gospel,” is a historical account of the musical genre. Gospel is an innovative and ever-evolving musicality born out of traditional spirituals, jazz and the blues that has been a continued throughline in the Black experience, especially in the Black Christian community. Intricate and extensive, “Gospel” contains a wealth of information, celebratory moments and ideas that eloquently connect the present to the past.
“Gospel,” like all of Gates’ shows, including “Making Black America: Through the Grapevine” and “Reconstruction: America After the Civil War,” opens with an origin story. The beginnings of gospel can be traced to the specific cadence and tones of Black preaching. Since enslavement, Black people have had a profound and nuanced connection to Christianity, but gospel, in particular, was born at the top of the 20th century amid the First Great Migration.
Using animated illustrations, archival texts, photos and eventually footage, “Gospel” untangles the history of the sound, which began in Chicago in the early 1910s with Thomas A. Dorsey, who is credited as the “Father of Gospel Music.” While churchgoers and gospel enthusiasts may know Dorsey best for his hymn, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” in Episode 1 “The Gospel Train,” Gates examines Dorsey’s beginnings as a blues singer and the events that galvanized him to return to the church. Instead of offering a bare-bones timeline, the docuseries address the obstacles Dorsey faced early in his career, including the stifling respectability politics of the Black church. These ideals initially barred Dorsey’s new brand of worship music. The church’s preoccupation with acceptability echoes across all four episodes, impacting gospel as it evolved into the 21st century.
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In addition to numerous compelling anecdotes, “Gospel” highlights Black women’s roles in this music sector. As in all American institutions, misogyny is deeply embedded in the Black church. As a result, the countless contributions of Black women are often unspoken or pushed aside. In “Gospel,” Gates, Holman and Harris move these women’s stories to the center of the narrative. Dorsey may be the Father of Gospel, but Sallie Martin, the vocalist and entrepreneur who set up and ran his business, is the genre’s mother. The series also spotlights the legendary gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who was initially barred from singing in some churches because she swayed her hips when she sang. The final two episodes, “Take the Message Everywhere” and “Gospel’s Second Century,” showcase the brilliance and importance of musical icons like The Clark Sisters and their mother, Dr. Mattie Moss Clark, who created the three-part harmony in the 1980s and gospel record label CEO Vicki Mack Lataillade, who is credited with discovering gospel icon, Kirk Franklin.
“Gospel” is stuffed with interviews, including various divinity leaders like U.S. Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock and Rev. Otis Moss III, as well as singer/songwriters including Shirley Cesear, Elbernita “Twinkie” Clark, Dionne Warwick and Yolanda Adams, but the historical footage is particularly captivating. Episode 2, “The Golden Age of Gospel,” chronicles the genre following World War II and through the Civil Rights Movement. This hour spotlights a clip of a young, exhausted-looking Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. steadying himself before a speech. Perhaps sensing his weariness, Mahalia Jackson begins belting out the spiritual, “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho,” immediately lifting the activist’s spirit and changing the tone of the entire room. Another riveting revelation is that at the March on Washington in 1963, under Jackson’s urging, King changed course, improvising his “I Have a Dream” speech mid-sentence.
As in “The Black Church,” this docuseries doesn’t shy away from the impact of the HIV/AIDS crisis on the Black community and the church’s poor response. Not only were choir members, directors and musicians dying at a horrifying rate, but the death of modern gospel musician James Clevland in 1991 turned the microscope on the church’s rampant bigotry and homophobia while bringing to light sex abuse allegations committed by Cleveland against his adopted son. While “Gospel” doesn’t dive thoroughly into these issues, acknowledging them in the show is an essential first step in truly addressing some of the institution’s core issues.
The final chapter of “Gospel” is set in the present day. Though this section teeters off-topic, focusing on the rise of mega-churches and Bishop T.D. Jakes, when the hour does stay on task, it’s made plain that the only constant in gospel is change. While the musical genre is now fully mainstream, church attendance and membership continue to decline among Millennials and Gen Z, whose social and political ideals don’t align with many of the church’s traditional teachings. Yet, gospel music has endured where churchgoing has wanned, demonstrating the power and accessibility of the sonic innovation that extends beyond rules or respectability and even religious beliefs.
The first two episodes of “Gospel” premiere Feb. 12 on PBS with the final two episodes dropping Feb. 13.
