Anthony Jackson

Of the Sorrow Songs

W.E.B DuBois

Black American Studies Term Paper

Professor Serrano

African American slaves were faced with not only physical, but emotional hardships such as family tragedies, heart aches and trauma. There were numerous amounts of struggles that forced them into needing a loop-hole, or getaway for the mind. This led to the tradition of singing the famous “Sorrow Songs”. All of the unfortunate injustices they were put through were resolved by a new tradition: singing sorrow songs. W.E.B DuBois’s text, “The Souls of Black Folks” talks about the songs, which all originated in the south, that African American slaves sang and then passed down from generation to generation to get them through all of the hardships and pain through the years. Each song represented a different feeling the slaves had while working, but each one also portrayed hope. Du Bois states that the Negro Folk Song “stands as the most beautiful expression of human experience.” These songs were taught and passed down through African American grade schools where the African American kids would teach the teachers the songs, while the teachers would show them how to sing. The teachers would learn the songs and then teach other African American children who then taught other people and so on. This is how the songs were kept alive as a tradition. In most cases, the songs were misunderstood by bystanders and people of other ethnicities and cultures who could not understand the significance or importance of what the songs meant to African Americans and their families. Due to the positivity these songs brought African Americans during slavery, the songs have been proudly passed down from generation to generation and still are sung today.

Different songs with diverse lyrics were passed down in families to encourage happiness, strength and hope during