For obvious reasons, direct expressions of protest during slavery were dangerous. Yet, it is very clear that some of the songs created by enslaved people served as expressions of protest. Creators of the songs went to considerable lengths to disguise the true meaning of the lyrics. For those within the enslaved community, however, the meanings were very clear. The best example of a protest spiritual is the song commonly called “I Got Shoes,” but also known as “Heav'n, Heav'n.” When it is performed in concert settings, the lyrics10 of this song are rarely understood fully. In its original context, the song is a bold protest against slavery. Basic necessities like shoes were rare in the slave quarters. However, the creators and original singers of this song, boldly confident about ultimate justice, insisted that “all God's children got shoes” (and robes, and harps, and crowns, and any number of items that might even be considered to be luxurious!). However, the song lyrics go even further than this. The lyricist continues, exclaiming that “everybody talkin' ‘bout Heav'n ain't goin' there.” Here, the emphasis is on hypocrisy. The slave master, claiming to be Christian, goes to church every Sunday morning, where he and other congregants talk and sing about Jesus and Heaven. But when he returns to the plantation on Sunday afternoon, he presides over a decidedly un-Heavenly, immoral enterprise, slavery, and participates actively in the un-Heavenly and immoral physical, emotional (and frequently sexual) abuse of other human beings.
Through the veiled lyrics of the song, the creator of this spiritual (whose name has long been forgotten) is expressing -- on behalf of the whole community -- a sense of outrage at the hypocritical behavior of men who have no God-given right to be in the position they occupy. And through the simple yet almost regal musical appeal of the song's melody, the singer turns the tables on the oppressor, reversing the power hierarchy. God's children (so-called slaves) have a place in Heaven, while the oppressor “ain't goin' there.” Moreover, Heaven might not necessarily be life after death. It might simply be life away from the plantation, away from slavery, in the safety of a place in the North, or in Canada!
