ABSTRACT
In Significations: Signs, Symbols, and Images in the Interpretation of Religion, Charles Long observes that during the Civil Rights Movement, black churches functioned as central sites for social protest, economic cooperation and collective solidarity. Long highlights the role that black aesthetics play in support of these functions. This chapter examines the particular role of music, embodied performances and structured rituals in black church-centered organizing. Focusing on the events related to the 1960s struggle for voting rights in Selma, Alabama, this chapter explores how embodied performances and congregational singing empower black people to assert their humanity despite the socio-historical realities of segregation, racial violence and discrimination. The chapter draws upon the theoretical ideas of religious scholars, such as Thomas Tweed’s notions of positionality, relationality and mobility and Vincent Wimbush’s conception of marronage and the construction of African American world views to better explicate the themes, rituals and aesthetic features involved in black church organizing.
