t 7 p.m. Feb. 10 in Dana Auditorium, 68-year-old vocalist Ann Hunt Smith gave an interactive, musical, and historical presentation on African-American music. Smith’s performance was part of the celebration of Black History Month at Guilford
The original program, first performed by Smith in 1967 at the segregated Lincoln High in Chapel Hill, N.C., began with work and sorrow songs. Smith presented these all with a powerful and sad voice, dressed as a slave and doing a back-and-forth dialogue to depict the horror, fear, and desperation of plantation life.
Smith continued on her historical journey singing a montage of slave songs, each designed to tell slaves how to escape to freedom. “They were a code to help slaves,” Smith explained as she addressed the audience.
“The lyrics carried so much meaning,” CCE student Felicia Kornegay said.
As Smith’s program progressed, she described how with the end of slavery, circumstances for blacks changed and the character of their songs changed, too. Freedom songs filled with hope of better times to come led to spirituals, which were then replaced by the blues, which were integral to both American and black culture.
“Everybody gets the blues sometimes,” Smith said. “You better have a song when you do.”
The presentation encouraged audience participation, including shouts to the audience and active clapping. College staff members also presented some gospel songs, leading the audience in more modern spirituals.
The night’s most powerful moment came as Smith relived her experience as a teacher in Raleigh, N.C., on the day of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Smith recalled how she turned to her class and asked “Can we turn this into a creative situation?” as her school went into lockdown.
Smith played piano and sang the song that she and her students had created on that day, attempting to involve the audience in the separate parts.
Smith strongly focused on the continuing tradition of music among blacks. She brought five girls on stage to teach them an old rhythm game, stressing how teaching children was the way to keep the spiritual alive.
“It was awesome,” Tyisha Hawkins, one of the young girls, said.
Smith finished the evening by having everyone stand and join her in a large chorus of “The Whole World in His Hand.”
“The best way to know a black man is to know his music,” Smith said.
The Steve Haines Jazz Trio will be in Dana at 7:00 p.m. on Feb. 17, and Spelman College President Beverly Tatum will be at New Garden friends Meeting Feb 27 to continue the Black History Month celebration.