Wade in the Water:
The Wisdom of the Spirituals

Celebrating 30 Years!

The revised edition includes a new Epilogue that explores the enduring significance of the spirituals in America’s fractured 21st century cultural environment, and an updated, annotated list of print and audiovisual resources for further study.

The revised, 30th anniversary edition of Dr. Jones’ groundbreaking book Wade in the Water: The Wisdom of the Spirituals, was released by Orbis Books in June, 2023.

“When Africans came against their will to be enslaved in America, they brought with them a richly textured heritage that included singing and dancing as daily activities, interwoven into everyday routines, expressions of a worldview in which communion with tribal brothers and sisters (those living as well as those dead) was not only desirable, but necessary for life, as much as food or water.”

— Opening words of “Wade in the Water: The Wisdom of the Spirituals” by Arthur C. Jones

“Wade in the Water” celebrates the spirituals both as art form and as unique and powerful cultural expression

Exploring the African roots of the spirituals, Jones explores the way the songs conceal a language of freedom and resistance, and the way that their spiritual consolation reinforces community solidarity. First published in 1993, Wade In The Water: The Wisdom of the Spirituals explains how the spirituals embody a rich tradition of values, particularly in human relationships, community, and hope. In the 30th anniversary revised edition, Dr. Jones traces the rediscovery and transmission of this tradition and its meaning for a new generation and new challenges.

  • “A richly textured, remarkably insightful rendering of the spirituals, their original settings, and their possible meanings for us today.”

    Vincent Harding, author of “There is A River: The Black Struggle for Freedom in America”

  • “Once in a while a book comes along that literally sings. . . . Such is Wade in the Water. Arthur Jones has done us all a service by recreating the very fiber of African American culture.”

    Andrew Billingsley, author of “Climbing Jacob’s Ladder”

  • “For three decades this volume has been a valuable resource to performers, teachers, and students. Its reissue, with new insights, including applications to important historical and current events, contributes significantly to the preservation of this important American music.”

    Roland M. Carter, Holmberg Professor of American Music
    University of Tennessee, Chattanooga

  • “Dedicated to the ‘heirs of the spirit, the struggle, and the songs,’ the revised edition of Arthur Jones’s insightful book addresses the Spirituals from their African roots, through issues of struggle, accountability, hope, and healing. With today’s concerns about cultural appropriation and the enduring value of this powerful music, this book is a must for the library of anyone who wishes to approach this music with power and authenticity.”

    Eileen Guenther, author of “In Their Own Words: Slave Life and the Power of Spirituals”

  • “As we look for succor in today’s troubled world, Arthur Jones’s revised edition of Wade in the Water inspires us to find our way back to the timeless African American songs called ‘spirituals’ and to the beauty of the voices and words that afforded self-worth despite enslavement, resistance despite oppression, and the sacred despite the profane.”

    Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Harvard University

  • “Wade in the Water takes us on a spiritual journey through enslaved Africans’ experiences out of which these songs originated. More important, Dr. Jones reminds us about the therapeutic healing power of African American folk songs. This power is still potent today. The Spiritual can indeed ‘heal the sin-sick soul.”

    Robert Sims, DMA, Professor of Voice, Northern Illinois University

  • “The Negro Spiritual - the first real American music - was slowly and painfully created out of the sorrow, sweat, and tears of the dark children of West Africa as they toiled on American soil. Its beginning, development, and refinement are discussed in mesmerizing detail in Wade in the Water, through the lens of the social, cultural and psychological framework into which they came into being and continue to live today. This treatise is a most welcome addition to our understanding of humanity.”

    Horace Clarence Boyer, author of The Golden Age of Gospel

  • “Wade in the Water is widely considered one of the best treatments of the influential African American song tradition variously known as the ‘Sorrow Songs,’ ‘Negro Spirituals,’ or simply ‘Spirituals.’ This is a book about the multi-dimensionality of African American sacred songs – songs simultaneously about heavenly salvation and earthly liberation. Created during one of the most dehumanizing experiences in human history, the spirituals are ultimately and resoundingly an expression of our enslaved ancestors’ humanity, spirituality and beauty. In powerfully written page after page, Arthur eloquently illustrates that the Spirituals are more about liberty instead of slavery.”

    Reiland Rabaka, author of Civil Rights Music and Black Power Music!

  • “At this time when legislators, librarians, teachers and parents are being pressured to ignore and even erase African American history, the revised edition of Wade in the Water is perhaps more necessary than ever. Professor Jones not only explains the music, history and stories associated with the Spirituals: he also asks the challenging questions and offers resources for listening that invite the reader to carry the Spirituals into their evolving future. I look forward to researching and teaching with this text, as I have for many years with the first edition.”

    Kim R. Harris, Ph.D., Department of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles

  • “Dr. Arthur Jones adeptly probes the parallel and deeply synergistic relationship between spiritual power, socio-cultural conditions, and the psychological functions of the Spiritual. Wade in the Water addresses the continued significance of the Spiritual in the 21st century, and because of its inclusion of important supplementary resources, with contemporary citations, documentary films, multicultural resources, and sound recordings, it will aid the reader/listener in better in understanding the full breadth and impact of this powerful and timeless musical genre.”

    Uzee Brown, Jr., Professor of Music, Morehouse College and past president, National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc.

  • “Arthur Jones’ Wade in the Water’ is unique in that it demonstrates black psychological integrity and black agency, as expressed before and after slavery. . . . The introduction of each selected spiritual is immersed by a thick, complicated, rich, and enlightening narrative that belies the complex psychology, creativity, and originality underpinning each selection. . . . In a sense, this text offers new insight to Maya Angelou’s expression, ‘I know why the caged bird sings.’”

    William E. Cross, Jr., author of Shades of Black

  • “Magnificent. . . . Culture, religion, and an undaunted quest for physical and psychological freedom are woven into a captivating , inspiring story of courage and ingenuity.”

    Anna M. Jackson, past president, National Association of Black Psychologists

“I became convinced that something significant in the culture was afoot, a kind of collectively powerful counterreaction to the impending loss of something precious that desperately needed to be kept alive.”

— Excerpt from the Epilogue in the Revised Edition of “Wade in the Water: The Wisdom of the Spirituals” by Arthur C. Jones