Phantom Power: The Sound World of Harriet Tubman

Maya Cunningham + Ravi Krishnaswami (US 2023)

41 min Episode 7 of 7

Ethnomusicologist Maya Cunningham reads “The Sound World of Harriet Tubman.” Maya Cunningham is an activist and jazz singer currently completing a Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in Afro-American studies with a concentration in ethnomusicology

She uses field recordings, historical research, and ethnomusicological research to explore the roles of sound and music, and voice in Tubman’s life and leadership. You’re going to hear about the American Christian revival known as the Second Great Awakening, which stirred both Black and white people from the late 1700s to the mid-1800s. You’ll also hear about the Invisible Church, where enslaved African Americans were able to worship secretly and autonomously and through the singing of folk spirituals, which differed greatly from white religious music at the time, but would go on to influence not only gospel music but pretty much every form of popular music we know today. The sounds and music from today’s show can be heard on Maya’s Spotify playlist

Produced for Phantom Power

Written and narrated by Maya Cunningham
Produced by Ravi Krishnaswami

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