“African American Spirituals . . . are the root of almost all American music, being the forebears of both the Blues—music that expresses the burden of so-called ‘freedom’ and hardships of everyday life, and Jazz, America’s classical music,” writes Jazz vocalist and composer Ruth Naomi Floyd. “This work . . . shows the words of a Dutch man, a brilliant scholar, author, and cultural critic, who, as a youth, was drawn to African American music. . . . His prophetic insight on Christianity and the arts is profound.”