Rethinking Religion - The Harlem Renaissance: Music, Religion, and the Politics of Race

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Sunday, February 17 at 9 a.m.

From The Columbia University Institute For Religion, Culture and Public Life, and the Luce Group, an exploration in words and music of how music, religion, and politics intersected during this rich period in African American history.

During the vibrant years of the Harlem Renaissance, music, religion, and spirituality were interconnected -- not just in the religious setting of the church, but in the jazz club, the dance hall, the rent party, even the political street rally.  Writer Carl Hancock Rux, Reverend Calvin Butts of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, historian Farah Griffin, Professors Josef Sorett and Obery Hendricks, and others explore these powerful interconnections.  Includes the voices of Langston Hughes, poet Sterling Brown, Marcus Garvey, as well as readings from Hughes, Arna Bontemps, and musician James Reese Europe.  Music includes Count Basie, Chick Webb, The Abyssinian Baptist Church Choir, Geri Allen, The Original Five Blind Boys of Alabama, Duke Ellington, Ma Rainey, Ella Fitzgerald, James Reese Europe's 369th US Infantry "Hell Fighters" Band, Mahalia Jackson, Ron Carter Big Band, Fats Waller, James P Johnson, WIllie The Lion Smith, Courtney Bryan, The Abyssinian Baptist Choir and more.