3 chapters across the catalog
Reverend Jasper Williams explains the "sweet science" of hooping, a rhythmic and melodic style of preaching. He breaks down the technique into three parts: information, interpretation, and inspiration. Williams demonstrates how a preacher uses vocal scales and timing to capture an audience's emotions and drive a call-and-response interaction, comparing the "drop" in preaching to modern DJ techniques.
Neely Fuller describes how the piano was once considered the "devil's box" and banned from many Baptist churches because it was associated with brothels and "houses of ill repute." Mo Facts recounts similar pushback against drums and keyboards in the Southern Black Baptist churches of his youth, noting the gradual "slippage" of what instruments were allowed in worship.
Dr. William C. Turner reflects on the social contradictions of Duke University in the late 1960s, where Black "star students" were celebrated while Black housekeepers were treated as invisible objects. Turner describes the dissonance of being "beloved" in his community but "unwelcome" in a university that patronized segregated institutions. The hosts note that local Black religious leaders often remained quiet during the Lacrosse case due to Duke's economic influence.
