Part 3: Blow Ye the Trumpet, 1867-1919

"In keeping with his traditions, the ex-slave sang about his experiences… Slavery had deprived him of a name, a homeland, and a family. The original African names of his forbears long ago been forgotten, the land of Africa no longer beckoned after almost two hundred and fifty years of exile, and his relatives had been dispersed, for the slave auction block had separated husband from wife, mother from child, brother from sister, and lover from lover.”

-- The Music of Black Americans, Page 222