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GOSPEL – Panel and Watch Party
February 14 @ 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
In celebration of Black History Month and partnership with WOUB we will be hosting a screening of “Gospel” a PBS docuseries that explores the rich history of Black spirituality through sermon and song followed by a conversation with local leaders in OHIO Southern’s Riffe Rotunda.
Monty Oates, Minister of Music at Christ Temple Church in Ashland, and Rev. Ralph Clay, Pastoral Care at Christ’s Community Church and Chaplin at Hill View Retirement Community, will be participating in our panel discussion.
In GOSPEL, Gates, the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University and director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, speaks with dozens of clergymen, singers, and scholars about their connection to the music that has transcended its origins and now spreads “the good word” all around the world. The series features interviews with notable names including Dionne Warwick, U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock, Rev. Otis Moss III, Professor Michael Eric Dyson, and awe-inspiring musical performances of Gospel favorites Can’t Nobody Do Me Like Jesus, Total Praise, and others from talents including The Belle Singers, Cory Henry, Celisse, and more.
Gospel music is more than the soundtrack of the African American experience, “it’s the beating heart and soul,” said Gates. “From the Great Migration to today, the history of Black gospel music and preaching is one of constant movement, and it’s long been a dream of mine to bring it to public television. We’re blessed to have such outstanding partners in delivering this series and concert at a time in our nation when the need for Gospel’s transcendent, healing powers is so great.”
