Champaign, IL – The Champaign Park District and Illinois Soul 101.1 FM have announced a special screening of an episode of “GOSPEL: WHERE SONG AND SERMON MEET,” part of the acclaimed new PBS documentary series. The screening will take place at the Virginia Theatre in Champaign on Friday, February 16, 2024, at 7:00 P.M. (doors open at 6:15 P.M.). Immediately following the screening there will be an on-stage discussion moderated by Illinois Public Media News Director Reginald Hardwick and Leonard McKinnis, Assistant Professor of African American Religions and Black Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. After the discussion, there will be a live musical performance by Ryan Byfield and Nuclei, featuring Erica Smith. The event, presented as part of the Virginia’s Arthouse Experience Film Series, is free to attend. More information at www.thevirginia.org. Sponsored by Illinois Public Media and the Champaign Park District.
GOSPEL: WHERE SONG AND SERMON MEET
From the blues to hip hop, African Americans have been the driving force of sonic innovation for over a century. Musical styles come and go, but there’s one sound that has been a constant source of strength, courage, and wisdom from the pulpit to the choir lofts on any given Sunday.
“GOSPEL,” the latest history series from Henry Louis Gates, Jr., digs deep into the origin story of Black spirituality through sermon and song.
Explore the history of Black gospel music, coming out of slavery, blending with the blues tradition, and soaring to new heights during the Great Migration. From Mahalia to Kirk Franklin, in the last century, gospel music has become the dominant form of African American religious expression and provided a soundtrack of healing and uplift to those at the front lines of protest and change.
For more, visit http://tinyurl.com/PBSGospel or https://thevirginia.org/.
Illinois Soul is a not-for-profit public radio station licensed to Illinois Public Media and the College of Media at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. FM 101.1 elevates Black voices, music, and culture throughout central Illinois, and online, with the power of public media. Illinois Soul airs NPR shows, produces local news for broadcast and the Web, and works hand-in-hand with the community to address their needs and concerns.
Media inquiries, contact Mitch Marlow at mitch.marlow@champaignparks.org, 217/819-3936.
