Sounding the Black Churches of Dallas

Abstract

Black Christians have historically looked to the church to provide a refuge from the effects of systemic racism and a place for socialization and community. During the 2020 COVID-19 closures, in Dallas, Texas, many churches either expanded their virtual programs or created them for the first time to continue engaging with the community. This prolonged involuntary separation changed the way spirituality, music, and sound in churches is experienced for many churchgoers. In this thesis, I explore how the pandemic’s closures affected church members’ relationships to sounds and soundscapes by analyzing emotions, memories, and reactions to church sound before and after the pandemic. This ethnographic research, conducted via Zoom from January to April 2021, utilizes participatory and art-based research methods. I worked with eleven Black Dallas residents from six church homes to gather information on their responses to sounds, soundscapes, and music, and to build an accompanying webpage featuring their favorite photographs and anecdotes about their religious lives. I also explore how the formation of the site utilizes principles of arts-based ethnography to share information in visual, audio, and narrative formats. Through the stories and research, I show how spirituality and heritage intertwines with Black sound and its effects on Black Christian communities by connecting spirituality to Black communication. I also explore how sound and memory can function as bridges to sensations of well-being in and out of church. Overall, my study explains the ways that church is important to Dallas’ Black Christians as a cultural experience that sonically enriches the community.