Amazing Grace: The American Spiritual
Podcasts & Music
The Amazing Grace experience doesn’t end with the performance. We have curated a selection of podcasts & music about Maine’s Black history, race and classical music, and antiracism to complement the concert and enrich your understanding.
Podcasts
Maine
Black History in Maine: The Stories and Contributions of Maine's Black Individuals and Communities and Maine's Role in the Slave Trade: Little-Known History of Slave Trading in New England – Maine Public Radio, Maine Calling
In these episodes of Maine Calling, learn about the role Black people played in Maine’s early history and Maine’s role in the Atlantic slave trade.
The New Maine: Facing Race & Difference – Operation Breaking Stereotypes
A podcast by an Operation Breaking Stereotypes cohort from Lewiston High School and Maranacook High School with a goal to help people understand "The New Maine,” which includes the voices of BIPOC and youth.
Black Owned Maine Podcast – Black Owned Maine
This local podcast invites BIPOC-identifying guests to share a safe space to have their voices heard.
Music
Melanated Moments in Classical Music – Classical Music Indy
Black hosts opera soprano Angela Brown and music sociologist Joshua Thompson share and discuss classical music by Black composers.
Louder Than A Riot – NPR
NPR journalists dive into the ties between criminal justice and hip hop.
1619 Podcast – Episode 3: The Birth of American Music – New York Times
Host Nikole Hannah-Jones & critic-at-large Wesley Morris discuss how Black music, forged in captivity, became the sound of complete artistic freedom – and the sound of America.
race and culture
Season 2: Seeing White – Scene on Radio
Hosts investigate the history and meaning of race, including how racist science justified these histories. The show comes with a downloadable study guide.
Pod Save The People – Crooked
Journalists of color investigate how race affects current events, sharing underappreciated stories that affect people of color.
Code Switch – NPR
This podcast, hosted by NPR journalists of color, addresses how race affects every aspect of society, from music to history and everything in between.
Wade in the Water – NPR
A series about Black gospel’s impact on soul, jazz, and R&B.
Music
More
Read the Black Voices Matter Pledge, coauthored by nine Black musicians including Amazing Grace soloist Reginald Mobley, to learn more about how we can make the music industry more antiracist.
Check out Music by Black Composers: Classical Music from Africa and the African Diasporas from the Rachel Barton Pine Foundation for resources, music, and more.
Join this Musicology Forum: Ron Daise, Brookgreen Gardens “The Musicology of Gullah Geechee Culture” presented by the University of Southern California and Early Music America on February 19th.
Visit the Institute for Composer Diversity and use their resources, including the Composer Diversity Database and Works Diversity Database.
Use the Composers of Color Resource Project for music theory resources including a list of public domain scores by composers of color.
Music educators: see Decolonizing the Music Room for a wealth of related materials and information.
Find new music and recordings from the Spirituals Database.