From Dallas-
The Christmas spirituals of the enslaved
people of the American South are among their greatest creations. The
unknown poets powerfully identified with the refugees and castaways of
the Christmas narratives. They recognized their own plight in the
journey of the Holy Family; they understood what it was like to be
hated, scorned and mocked. Like them, Mary, Joseph and Jesus were
powerless, hunted and hounded by the absolute rulers of the land, forced
to hide in tents and stables and caves.
And
the slaves felt a deep kinship with the shepherds, the lowest of the
low in society, the untouchables, consigned to society’s distant edges.
Both spent much of their lives outside, under the stars, keenly aware of
the great cosmic mandala of light that swept across the horizon against
the endless black skies during the never-ending nights.
That’s why “Rise Up Shepherds and Follow” is still so evocative today.
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