Grace Hall
Aldridge
American Pop Culture
4 Dec 2018
A Change is Gonna Come Book Review
A Change is Gonna Come: Music, Race & the Soul of America is written by University of Wisconsin Professor, Craig Werner.[1] Werner teaches in the department of Afro-American Studies and is the author of multiple books about African American music and culture; like Higher Ground: Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield and the Rise & Fall of American Soul and Playing the Changes From Afro-Modernism to the Jazz Impulse, along with A Change is Gonna Come and others.[2] Werner begins his introduction defining A Change is Gonna Come as “[his] attempt to help renew a process of racial healing that at times seems to have stopped dead.”[3] Claiming to inspire racial healing in a society that has struggled with racial tension since its existence is bold; critic Andrew Blake even calls Werner’s claims on African American music “ambitious.”[4] Yet, Werner is able to give examples that do show how music can be a unifying force for society. Werner’s main thesis throughout his book is that music inspires community.
Werner separates his book into five sections. The book begins with a description of the March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have A Dream” speech. The first section defines the gospel impulse as a blend of the values from West African cultures and the black churches in America.[5] The gospel impulse “helps people experience themselves in relation to rather than on their own”[6] by focusing on community and their own “history of suffering.”[7] Werner focuses on the gospel impulse in the civil rights movement and how Mahalia Jackson, in particular, was able to use her Christian voice to unite white and blacks. Jackson made a name for herself singing in a CBS radio show which “brought gospel music into the homes of white Americans.”[8] Werner is showing that Jackson was able to inspire unity through her Christian music. Werner claims “the sixties were a time of hope. You could hear it in the music.”[9] He bases his argument off of the “freedom songs”[10] and “gospel inflections”[11] that were heard during the civil rights movement. His main example of gospel inflections came from the music of Mahalia Jackson. She was able to have a successful career without losing her strong ties to religion.[12] The first section simply defines the blues impulse as “nothin’ but a good man feelin’ bad.”[13] Now Werner cites Ralph Ellison’s philosophy of the blues, comparing the blues impulse to gospel impulse. While both “bear witness to the reality of the burden … gospel holds out hope that things will change …the blues settles for making it through the night.”[14] Werner’s example of blues music is Robert Johnson, who played strings that “reverberates with reality.”[15] The distinction between gospel and blues is important, but both have the ability to bring people together. People can bond over their excitement for the future or misery in the moment. The mix of blues and gospel produced soul music. Soul music was perfected by James Brown. Werner uses a quote from Brown to help prove his thesis. Brown says, “soul music and the civil rights movement went hand in hand, sort of grew up together.”[16]
The second section first talks about how the attempted integration of the army in the Vietnam war forced whites and African Americans to unite. A big part of the second section is Jazz impulse, defined as “a constant process of redefinition”[17] by Ralph Ellison. Ellison says that jazz is important because the “jazz artist” consistently grows as “an individual … a member of a community … [and] a ‘link in the chain of tradition.’”[18] Jazz is important because unlike other modernist movements jazz strives to stay connected to its “ancestors” and “roots,”[19] like gospel and blues. Section three speaks to the beginning of the separation of the African American and white communities. Werner speaks to the disappointment the African American community felt with President Carter’s response to the affirmative action case. Werner claims that the civil rights movement has “never recovered”[20] from Carter’s inability to focus on “equal opportunity”[21] for African Americans because Carter’s failures helped Ronald Reagan rise.[22] In contract, Werner also mentions Bruce Springsteen and The Clash are music groups who were actively trying to help bring together communities through their art.
In the fourth section, Werner claims that the time Reagan was president was “the worst period in racial relations since the 1890s.”[23] Werner shows how race relations were tense by the way music became segregated. The 80s created a world where “image was everything, [so] even the most conscious musicians were out of their league”[24] trying to help unify African Americans and whites. Therefore, the 80s saw a rise in segregated music. Underground hip-hop became a symbol of urban centers and African American populations. While Elvis is credited for being the “one who ‘got white folks to singing rock and roll.’”[25] In the fifth section, speaks to the true determination of African Americans in the hip hop industry. Werner speaks about Mary J. Blige, who “[refused] to give up hope”[26] with pride. Werner also speaks to the soul and gospel influence on southern hip-hop which was called “crunk” by OutKast.[27] Werner’s final claim was that “it was never more important to keep the conversation going than the moments when it seemed to be going nowhere.”[28] Music is just one way racial tension manifests in America. This ending to the book shows Werner really does want to help start a conversation with his reader about the race relations in America.
I do not find Werner’s book to be exceptionally effective. His overwhelming amount of evidence and multiple claims make his arguments cluttered and confusing to understand. Critic Robert Cochran admitted that while A Change is Gonna Come is “compelling,” Werner has given himself a “daunting task” trying to explain the “history of the complex interactions between popular music and racial politics.”[29] Werner uses obvious bias in his writing. He criticizes all the presidents he mentions, from the left-wing perspective, yet is a supporter of the American army with his reporting on both the Vietnam war and the post-9/11 benefit concert.[30]
Now, Werner did prove his main thesis, that music can create community. His most compelling argument is actually in the end of book. When the twin towers fell on September 11, 2001; “America turned to music.”[31] Celebrities got together to put on a benefit concert ten days after the tragedy.[32] Music is what brought together the American people to help the victims. He also showed how Mahalia Jackson’s music united both black and white audiences over the radio. Yet, he did not effectively prove that his book or music in general inspires racial healing. I feel he did the opposite. While, in the 1960s the African American community was integrating into white society because the wide appreciation of African American music. A Change is Gonna Come shows how overtime, society actually became less accepting of the blending of music. Werner credits singer Mahalia Jackson with helping MLK and the civil rights movement with her gospel music. Yet, white stars like Elvis overshadow the originally African American genre and the white fanbase forgets all about the history of the music. Beginning in the third section, Werner reports on how “‘The Message’ changed the game.”[33] According to Werner, “The Message,” a song which originated in the South Bronx, is “the essence of what had happened in America during the seventies.”[34] The hope created by the music and joyful attitudes of the early 1960s “faded away” and the new blues, looked like “pure despair.”[35] Neither of these examples paint a unified or happy image for the reader. In the final chapter, Werner claims the church was under attack in the 80s and 90s.[36] This is an interesting diversion from the rest of the book; Werner chooses to finish up his book speaking about youth rebelling against their elders. While yes, these are interesting stories; the book A Change is Gonna Come should be divided into multiple smaller books, so the messages can get across better.
[1] “Craig Werner | Department of Afro-American Studies,” accessed December 4, 2018, https://afroamericanstudies.wisc.edu/people/werner.
[2] “Craig Werner | Department of Afro-American Studies.”
[3] Craig Werner, A Change Is Gonna Come: Music, Race & The Soul of America (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2006). Xiii.
[4] Andrew Blake, “Book Reivew: Black Culture – a Community or a Commodity? Tuesday Book: A Change Is Gonna Come: Music, Race and the Soul of America by Craig Werner (Payback Press, Pounds 12.99): [FOREIGN Edition],” The Independent; London (UK), September 12, 2000, sec. Comment.
[5] Werner, 28-29.
[6] Werner, 28.
[7] Werner, 31.
[8] Werner, 4.
[9] Werner, 3.
[10] Werner, 3.
[11] Werner, 3.
[12] Werner, 4.
[13] Werner, 68.
[14] Werner, 70.
[15] Werner, 65.
[16] Werner, 72.
[17] Werner, 132.
[18] Werner, 132.
[19] Werner, 135.
[20] Werner, 196.
[21] Werner, 196.
[22] Werner, 196.
[23] Werner, 245.
[24] Werner, 245.
[25] Werner, 263.
[26] Werner, 330.
[27] Werner, 330.
[28] Werner, 360.
[29] Robert Cochran, “A Change Is Gonna Come: Music, Race, and the Soul of America,” African American Review; Saint Louis 34, no. 4 (Winter 2000): 713–14, http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2901438.
[30] Werner, 351.
[31] Werner, 351.
[32] Werner, 351.
[33] Werner, 241.
[34] Werner, 241.
[35] Werner, 242.
[36] Werner, 354.
