A review by lauramdh
The Spirituals and the Blues by James H. Cone

challenging informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

This is my second James H. Cone book. (The first was The Cross and the Lynching Tree...highly recommend that one too.) I’m writing this review before 7am, so it likely won’t be the most eloquent. I continue to read Cone because he shows me how white my theology truly is. I learned some about the origins of the spirituals and the blues, but I learned more about they meant to the people who wrote and listened to them. Why this form of musical expression was distinct. One of the overarching themes was that these songs were ways for black people to challenge the idea that they were not human or that white people get to define the parameters of their humanity. Cone challenged not only my theology but the way I viewed art. I am excited to read more of his work.