From the outside looking in the Stellar Awards seems like any other awards show. Beautiful men and women dressed to the hilt, flashbulbs popping as talent stands statuesque and smiling, and anxious reporters fielding questions of both the mundane and profound nature. This is all par for the course during award show season. But where the Stellar Awards sets itself apart is when you are in the midst of it all and you feel the spirit hovering over the place where some of today’s most influential gospel singers come to celebrate God and be celebrated by their peers in the gospel music industry. Thanking Jesus is not just something these artists do when they step to the mic to accept their award; it is a way of life that they express through their artistry. This artistry, known as gospel music, has been celebrated by the Stellar Awards for 30 years.
Produced by Chicago-based Central City Productions, the first Stellar Awards show was taped at the Arie Crown Theatre in Chicago. Through the years, Central City Productions CEO Don Jackson and his team have taken the Stellars throughout the country from Los Angeles and Houston to Nashville and Atlanta, and this year marked their first time in Las Vegas. Las Vegas location aside, this year’s Stellars is special because it marks the 30th anniversary of the show that is a premiere platform for gospel artists.
“I think we open the door for black gospel artists,” says Erma Davis, President and COO of Central City Productions. “In the past, gospel artists were not really known that well because, in the secular world, you just see all of the stars and glamour. I think one of the things we did was to highlight [gospel artists] and really give them a platform so that they could show their ministry.”
Davis hits on something poignant regarding the way gospel music and artistry is acknowledged in the mainstream. Gospel artists are nominated and win at shows such as the Grammys, but they receive their awards off-camera and rarely are they given performance space at the same rate as their peers in mainstream popular music. Instead, how to mainstream acknowledges the Gospel and gospel influences is by giving viewers excerpts of the preceding culture through the broadcast of popular artists thanking God on stage and the sometimes testifyin’, sometimes signifiyin’ appearance of gospel choirs in popular artists’s Grammy Award performances. Other than that, gospel artists and their work are relegated to the peripheries of the mainstream. This is problematic because gospel music has more to do with their success than it doesn’t. Many artists, particularly popular African-American artists, started singing in the church or were influenced by gospel artists. Some artists receive vocal training from gospel music veterans. Some artists employ church musicians to play in their bands. Suffice to say, gospel music’s roots run deep but the mainstream won’t always tell that story. Furthermore, it stands to be said that R&B and Rap music are often exalted as the representative genres of black music in the mainstream, but we know that is only part of the story. The roots of many genres of black music can be traced back to gospel music. Gospel music matters.
“Gospel Music Matters As Black Lives Do.” Bobby Jones
We are in the era of “Black Lives Matter” the social justice movement started by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi on the heels of George Zimmerman’s acquittal for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in 2013. At every turn we have an opportunity to think about why black lives matter and what it means. A reflection on “Black Lives Matter” also constitutes a reflection on the components of black lives and how those parts re-affirm black identity and the value of black lives. We dare to reflect on the connection between “Black Lives Matter” and gospel music and how the latter reaffirms black identity in general and black Christian identity in particular to reiterate link between gospel music and social justice.
“Down through the years, when we didn’t have the right to vote, it was the gospel. It was the Dixie Hummingbirds, it was Clara Ward and other gospel singers who came on the strip first, taking the art form to another level,” said the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. Gospel artist and their music were historically known for mobilizing some of our most influential leaders such as the way in which Mahalia Jackson’s music inspired Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Even the Golden Globe and Oscar-winning song “Glory” has a gospel undertone that is unmistakable and is serving as the clarion call for many young social justice activists.
Gospel singer Tasha Cobbs also understands the connection between gospel music and social justice. Her 2013 hit, “Break Every Chain” is often used in churches in connection to different social justice causes. I’ve seen youth ministries utilize the song to speak out against bullying and last year, following the non-indictment of Darren Wilson, it was sung in a local Atlanta church as a rallying cry for justice for slain black men. When asked how she feels about her song’s usage for social justice causes Cobbs said that she was honored and that the song is about reminding people who there is power in the name of Jesus. “I don’t believe that you can break anything that is causing destruction and chaos without using the name of Jesus.” But she also called out the church as a necessary partner in reminding people of that power. “I believe it is bringing that pressure back on the church to step up and access the power that we have in the name of Jesus, and that ministry is going to help us overcome what we are going through now.” Gospel music matters and has power in and outside of the church
For the last 30 years the Stellar Awards have been a vehicle for transporting the genre of gospel music to even higher ground, bringing it more fully into the spotlight, and being an empowering force in the African-American community. The shows creators and all of the celebrated artists recognize and affirm the value of gospel music in bolstering black identity, especially as we continue to proclaim that “Black Lives Matter.” Black artistry plays a role in “Black Lives Matter,” particularly the artistry that has helped black people make meaning for their lives and that reaffirms the value of their lives through the Gospel. Outspoken “Preachers of L.A.” castmember and gospel artist Deitrick Haddon said it best when he said, “For gospel music in particular, we don’t have a lot of platforms that really display us in a classy, respectful way. So that’s why the Stellar Awards is the epitome of who we are and what we’re doing. We’ve gotta support the Stellar Awards.”
Pastor Timothy Alden may be the only white pastor in the cast of “Preachers of Detroit” but that isn’t his most defining characteristic. UrbanFaith.com had a chance to talk with the Detroit born and raised pastor about how he sees himself, his hopes for the city of Detroit, the influence of reality TV and much more.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
How has the move back to Detroit gone and what are the challenges you’ve faced with being on the show?
I still live in LA so I didn’t move physically back to Detroit. I’ve been going back and forth to Detroit because I have family there and I do ministry on and off at different churches and different events in Detroit. But, I definitely have been home more frequently. Some of the challenges of that have been just feeling the city, feeling what the city has been through, and then really committing to hoping there will be a comeback for Detroit.
Considering that Detroit is a city in a state of disrepair, what would you say are your specific hopes and dreams for the city especially as it pertains to your work and the show?
My passion in ministry has always been youth and I believe that when a city goes through the things that Detroit goes through, the ones that really catch the brunt of it, are the youth of the city. The youth having hope for a bright future, which is difficult living in Detroit with so much hopelessness surrounding them, is important. So my passion has really been how to reach the youth.
Do you have any specific ideas about how you want to do that?
Well I gear the message to young people at every church I go; everywhere I have an opportunity to speak I talk about young people about having vision, hope for the future. I also have a platform of abstinence that I preach to young people, I bring that message with me and it’s one that I model myself because I’m still a virgin and unmarried and committed to a life of abstinence and celibacy until I get married and I believe that’s a real important message for our youth with the statistics of STDs, teenage pregnancies, and high school dropouts. And that’s one of the important messages that I do stress when I have an opportunity to speak to them.
What is the practical advice that you give young people and your congregants on the regular about maintaining celibacy and abstinence in a culture such as we exist in?
That’s a great question and it’s one that I answer frequently because it is a message that’s targeted toward youth but it certainly applies to people of all ages. Basically it’s that we are all born with a purpose and we all have a reason for being on the planet and the relationships that we have should compliment that not serve as a distraction from that. There’s a scripture from the Bible that I use, “Without a vision the people perish,” and the word perish in the Hebrew translation means “they die for lack of discipline or their dreams and their hopes die for lack of discipline.” So to not get involved in the relationship in an intimate or serious way is a discipline issue. And how many people have gotten off track and maybe never gotten back on track as it relates to their education, their entrepreneurial dreams, their skills, their talents, how many have never developed themselves because they’ve invested a lot of time and energy into a relationship that they weren’t really ready for or that wasn’t really right for them.
So I just really teach people who, “You are complete as an individual, you don’t have to succumb to trying to be with somebody to get over your loneliness, you don’t have to succumb to the pressure of just getting with anybody or hooking up—as they say—because you’re feeling those temporary emotions like loneliness and heartache that you can push through it and focus on the bigger picture of where you want to be in your future and God will send the right people and the right person in a mate that will compliment that.
We have to know who we are before are ready to connect with someone on that intimate level.
Given your single and celibate status, are you going to be like the Bishop Noel Jones of Detroit?
Well there is another single pastor, there’s actually two of us. For myself I wouldn’t compare myself to Noel Jones or say that I’m going to be the Noel Jones of Detroit, I’m very different from the rest of the cast from Preachers of LA. This is a different show, it’s a unique show, a unique cast, a different city, a different flavor. So I think people are going to be surprised in a good way at the differences. I don’t think you can really compare any of the cast to the cast of Preachers of LA, it’s a completely different group of people who bring a different, unique perspective to the show.
What compels you to participate in a show such as “Preachers of Detroit” given what some people think is what can be or what is the negative influence of reality television?
That’s a good question. First of all I was in one episode of “Preachers of LA,” one episode in the last season, so I’m already familiar with the producers of show because the producer, Lemuel Plummer, is from Detroit and his dad is a pastor in Detroit. So I know his dad and I know him and when I was approached about “Preachers of Detroit,” being from Detroit, Lemuel thought it would be a good idea to bring me in as one of the cast members, considering that I am from there and I love the city and have a heart for the city. So when I agreed to do the show, I really listened to what their motivation was: to specifically highlight Detroit and how different this show was going to be, and that’s what encouraged me to commit to doing it.
As far as the negativity of reality TV, I think that reality TV itself isn’t negative, it could be some of what is portrayed on reality TV that could be considered negative. So I wanted to be a positive contributor to reality TV since it does have such a huge platform in our culture today, I really felt impressed to bring a different message other than what people have seen, typically, in reality television.
Many would say that a pastor participating in a show, even about pastors, is slipping into being of the world instead of in the world. So what is your response to those types of detractors?
My response has been, because I’ve heard that, the Scripture talks about us being “salt and light” and being “a city sat on a hill” and I really believe it’s time for the church to come out of the four walls and the stained glass windows and really speak to culture and spark some important conversations. Of course my story is unique in a lot of ways with abstinence, virginity, and celibacy…I was adopted by an African-American family and that’s going to be part of the story of the show as well. So it gives me an opportunity to speak about some issues that need to have a bigger platform as far as the conversation is concerned. I think the church has been happy with just TBN and some smaller Christian networks, but I believe God is opening a great opportunity for us to bring something to a bigger audience, not just church and religious people. Jesus was often accused of hanging out with sinners and hanging out with people who the religious Pharisees of the day thought that he shouldn’t be with and he definitely impacted the culture in a very profound way by being with people who some people thought he shouldn’t be hanging out with, those kind of people.
What is your relationship like with other pastors on the show?
Well me being born and raised in Detroit, I’m familiar with most of the cast already, some of them I’ve had personal interaction with, some of them I’ve not. But you’ll see a really unique group of people come together and it’ll be very unique to see how we relate to each other and how we get to know each other on another level. I think this is what’s going to make the show really good.
What was your experience like being adopted by an African-American family, when did that happen and what does that mean that you are the lone white pastor in the midst of this community of black pastors on the show?
Well I’ll say as a teenager, experiencing some things in my biological family which of course was the opening for me to really be introduced to a culture where I found an overwhelming amount of love and acceptance from a teenager on up into adulthood, it impacted my life just the way I was embraced and loved and received just blew me away. So people who look different from you and aren’t necessarily blood related but love you just the same, that’s been the stabilizing factor, that made a difference in my life, that was the most impactful thing.
The other part of your question about being the white pastor, I kind of don’t see myself as being a white pastor because I was born and raised in Detroit. I’m really with people who I’m used to being with. Of course I know other people looking on the outside will see that, but I’m very comfortable with it. With the show, with Detroit, it’s so unique because it brings a different flavor to the cast. We have two women on the show as well. So it’s going to be very unique to see the cast in its uniqueness. I am a white pastor but I’m not a typical white guy and people will see that and it will open up the door to talk about an important conversation that we need to have in our nation regarding race and racial reconciliation.
On the topic of racial reconciliation, what are you hoping to communicate?
I think what I would like people to see, with my life in general, is that love really has no color, it’s just one layer of skin that separates us. Underneath that skin we’re all the same and we all need love and acceptance and it can happen to people who are different from another. Our diversity really makes us stronger, and a lot of the problems and issues we see in our culture is because people are divided.
On your church website you mention the gift of prophecy and the accuracy of your prophecy. What does being a prophet mean to you and will we see some of that gifting released on the show?
Well there’s a variety of things you will see on the show, some services in there, some more personal sides. I don’t know that the show is going to necessarily highlight that aspect of my ministry.
What I think is important about prophecy and being an important gift is that the Bible says that the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets and those gifts are often misunderstood and misrepresented or not represented at all. And the thing that’s unique about a prophet or flowing in a prophetic gift is it’s not necessarily something that comes from your head. Or if, like, I’m teaching a message I can study ahead of time, I can have an outline, I can have scriptures, and I can have Greek and Hebrew words defined. But when I minister to a person, and something is revealed to me that I didn’t know about that person, and it’s something that ministers to them and they know that it had to be God to expose that because they know I don’t know them, then it just really builds the faith of the individual that receives the ministry. It’s kind of like knowing God is really real because I know this person doesn’t know this about me.
It looks like there may be a parting of the proverbial Red Sea for white-washed biblical films with the news of an upcoming release. A few days ago, IndieWire’s Shadow and Act blog broke news about “Revival: The Experience” a musical retelling of the gospel of John, and by the trailer alone it looks glorious.
The film stars Grammy nominee and subversive gospel artist Mali Music as Jesus, the one and only Chaka Khan as Herodias, Destiny’s Child’s gospel sister Michelle Williams as Mary Magdalene, acting veteran Obba Babatunde as Nicodemus, and consistently chin-dimpled Harry Lennix as Pontius Pilate just to name a few of the all-star cast. As I mentioned earlier this is a musical retelling and it looks like everyone will be either singing or dancing, including Jesus. Yes, Jesus is not only going to weep but he will sing, and if you are familiar with Mali Music you know that Jesus is going to sing exceedingly and abundantly well.
According to the film’s IMDB page, it is a hybrid of every film idiom including Broadway musical, Hollywood musical, animation, green screen technology and sound stage. It sounds like a lot but let’s hope that they edit it flawlessly in the post-production process. Here’s a look at the first trailer for the film.
This poster reads, “I am Charlie–let’s not forget the victims of Boko Haram.” Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images
For the past week Nigeria has been ravaged by violence as never seen before. Just last week it was alleged that a 2,000 person massacre took place at the hands of Islamic extremist group Boko Haram. This is considered Nigeria’s deadliest massacre and it took place over the course of one day–Jan. 3 and by Monday bodies were still littering the streets. Recently Nigerian officials stated that approximately 150 people were killed and not the figure of 2,000 that is being bandied about in the few news stories that have covered the situation in Nigeria. But should the number matter? Furthermore, the 150-2,000 lives lost is not all. Over the weekend it was alleged that Boko Haram sent little girls to blow themselves up in public markets resulting in the loss of their lives as well as other innocent bystanders. And yet, in all of this, we are still hard-pressed to get consistent, upfront coverage about Nigeria–certainly not on the level of say the “Je suis Charlie” campaign which is a result of the terrorist attacks on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
What is most daunting about the situation in Nigeria is that, soon enough, it will be one year since the Nigerian girls were kidnapped and, by then, we may not see their return. Though April 15 is quite some ways away, it doesn’t seem probable that those girls will be brought back nor does it seem probable that enough people–particularly mainstream media–are going to be concerned about their return. It is more probable that another hashtag for another campaign will be created before we resolve the issues of the last hashtag. It is also more probable that Western media will dictate our concern and have us up in arms about 12 people who were killed in Paris while they desensitize us to the almost daily slaughtering in places such as Nigeria. In a way it is like saying, “We don’t expect this to happen in Paris, but this is par for the course in developing and third-world nations.”
What then are we to say and do with the response and/or lack thereof to the violence that has beset the people of Nigeria? “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”
It has become far too easy to complain about the lack of coverage mainstream media gives to issues such as Nigeria and if we continue to complain about it we will run ourselves ragged. Instead it is time for us to step up to the plate and be the ones making this news important. Just as many mobilized to make #BlackLivesMatter a force to be reckoned with–and it still is in 2015–we must make #IAmNigeria, #PrayforNigeria, #BringBackOurGirls, and other black and African-centered campaigns the new normal and not wait for anyone else–particularly the mainstream–to do it for us.
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are Nigeria. We, especially, African Americans and Black people living in America surely share more with our brothers and sisters in Nigeria and other parts of Africa than we do with other campaigns we support. This is not to minimize the importance of also standing in solidarity with the people of Paris as they grieve for the lives lost, but we must be steadfast and unmovable in our fight for a most fundamental freedom. That freedom is the freedom for a black person to live, move, and have their being as those who also share the signifier of being children of God just as their white counterparts do. A freedom, it can be argued, is a bit more significant that fighting for the freedom of press and speech that allows someone to pen and sketch potentially racist and offensive images.
Maybe it is time for us to make a resolution to ourselves that before we complain about what someone isn’t doing–like what the various media outlets aren’t doing to cover Nigeria–we exhaust ourselves in finding those who are doing something. We are fortunate to exist in a moment where social media allows people to mobilize quickly around news that isn’t being covered by large outlets. Find those spaces, share what people are doing and saying, and watch how others take notice. In doing so we may find that we don’t have to wait for the news but we create it and show those mainstream outlet what is really–or also–important.
We are who we’ve been waiting for. Will you step up and answer the call?
In the meantime, here are some organizations to follow on social media who do well at staying on top of issues that don’t immediately make breaking news:
Like most people the last 24 hours, no scratch that, the last week and a half has been an emotionally tumultuous one. I’ve been vocal on social media about my disdain for non-indictments in the cases of Michael Brown and now Eric Garner and I, like many, have been trying to figure out what to do. As a fairly recent theology school graduate I’ve also kept my eyes open to how theology works in these situations and how my colleagues, especially those who have churches, have employed it. Unfortunately I’ve seen a disparity in those MDiv holders who are over churches and their explicit concern for justice versus those without churches who have been vocal about injustice. But recently I was given a glimmer of hope for the work that theology can do in this chaotic world.
At 10:40 on Thursday morning students from the Candler School of Theology gathered in a central meeting place to discuss their plans to interrupt the Advent Magnificat chapel service. With most dressed in all black and some holding handmade signs, the group accepted instructions to read a “Litany for Those Who Aren’t Ready for Healing” by Dr. Yolanda Pierce followed by a reading of the names of all of those whose lives were taken by police violence and brutality. The energy was electric among the group which not only included black students but their white and other non-black allies. One of those allies included the Assistant Dean of Worship and Music at Cannon Chapel, Rev. Barbara Day Miller. Miller, who usually overseas the worship services, caught wind of the planned interruption and coordinated with the student organizers to ensure that their plan of protest would go off without a hitch. And so the students walked into the chapel space, dispersed to the four corners of the room, and awaited their time to interrupt business as usual.
30 minutes into service Cassandra Henderson, a third-year MDiv student and one of the lead organizers in the protest, approached the pulpit and began the litany. As the entire room rose to their feet, one by one the students with the litany text in their hands participated in the call & response and then in a unison reading of 38 names of men and women killed by police. The names of people such as Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Ezell Ford, John Crawford, Miriam Carey, Gabrielle Nevarez and others rang through the space and the Yoruba affirmation “Ase” enveloped the names and sent them up to God and the ancestors. In the midst of all of this, some in the chapel nodded, some had blank stares, and some even looked annoyed, but all had to listen. Once the litany was complete everyone took their seats and were told to resume their regularly scheduled program but the room had already shifted, it was clear we couldn’t go back to business as usual. Thus at 11:40 the students walked out of the service chanting “Black Lives Matter” and made their way to the site of the second action, a “die-in” to take place between the Candler School of Theology and Cannon Chapel.
Students at the Candler School of Theology participating in a die-in protest in the wake of the Eric Garner non-indictment verdict. (Photo Credit: Nicole Symmonds)
As the chants of “Black Lives Matter” wafted up into the misty air students put down their backpacks and laid their bodies down on the damp ground. By the dozens a diverse student body settled their physical bodies into the hard earth and shouted, chanted, prayed, cried out to the God, called out their oppressors and bound themselves to each other in a supreme act of resistance. The words of activist Assata Shakur, were the first of many call and responses:
“It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and protect each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.”
The prophet Isaiah, Micah, and Jesus were invoked as students cried out as voices in a new wilderness and recalled the call to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly. Signs were their blankets, their voices were their trumpets, and their tears watered the blood-soaked earth and communicated to God that God’s children were in the midst of humbling themselves so that they may hear from God. Faculty from Candler joined the students in just the way that some of them teach–not from below but from besides. Ethicists, biblical scholars, systematic theologians, pastoral care practitioners, youth educators and more “died” in solidarity. Administration, including Jan Love, dean of the Candler School of Theology, were also in the death count. “This is what grief looks like. This is what rage looks like. This is what determination looks like,” Love said to the crowd of “dead” students who stretched athwart from one end of a large walkway to another. “This is what theology looks like,” was a key refrain in that space between the school of theology and the chapel. I kept thinking about the implication of repeating and holding signs that read, “This is what theology looks like” while we all performed death. Once the dust settled a bit it occurred to me one way to look at it.
Jesus said to his followers, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” And that is precisely the work of theology that took place at the Candler School of Theology and that needs to take place daily until justice is served, a communal dying and a dying to ourselves.
Candler School of Theology students in protest (Photo Credit: Nicole Symmonds)
Around the country and the world many have staged “die-ins” as a symbolic show of solidarity with Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and the countless others whose lives were taken by the corrupt and unjust. They have literally laid down their bodies on street corners, sidewalks, shopping malls, schools, and anywhere where they can get in the way. This is the work of theology. To physically, mentally, and spiritually wrestle with those things which concern God is the work of theology that is being put before us in this moment and it is totally inconvenient and uncomfortable. Protest is inconvenient and uncomfortable. There was nothing comfortable about laying on a damp ground but while I have breath left in my lungs I will lay down many more times as long as injustice against anyone exists. This is what we are all called to do, to put ourselves in the way, sometimes even in harm’s way, for the sake of our brothers and sisters. While we yet still have the time to lay down our lives for our friends we must take it. And who is your friend? Eric Garner, Michael Brown, John Crawford, Kendrec McDade, Amadou Diallo, Patrick Dorismond, Timothy Stansbury, and the list goes on.
Rev. Bridgette Young Ross, dean of chapel and spiritual life at Emory, also gave us some insight into what theology looks like when she suggested that the gospel is really about transformation and holy disruption. Young Ross passionately proclaimed that if it wasn’t for the holy disruption years ago she wouldn’t be standing at Emory today or in her particular office at the institution–that is as a Black woman in an institution that didn’t always open its doors to black people. Holy disruption is required of us, to put aside business and even worship as usual to tend to the business of being active in the struggle toward justice. Young Ross also sent the reminder that the Jesus many of us follow was a “revolutionary, mystic rabbi” and that we are to be an incarnation of that Jesus. This is the obvious part of what theology looks at such a time as this that some seem to be missing.
Jesus was no silent partner when it came to calling out injustice. He spoke up, turned tables over, stood on the side of the oppressed, and then paid the ultimate price for it all in dying for the sins of all. His fight should now be our fight. He gave us an edict to love our neighbors as ourselves and to do this we must surrender our sometimes misguided agendas to will the good for the greater community. Therefore, while we yet still have the time to lay down our lives for our friends we must take it. Let us remember our friends:
Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, John Crawford, Kendrec McDade, Amadou Diallo, Patrick Dorismond, Timothy Stansbury…
