In 1935 Alan Lomax and Zora Neale Hurston recorded the Georgia Sea Island Singers doing the ring shout, one of the only historic recordings of this style of Black worship. When the Georgia Sea Island Singers disbanded, it was believed to be the end of the ring shout. Then the McIntosh County Shouters revived it.
After emancipation, London and Amy Jenkins settled into what would become Georgia’s McIntosh County. While there were many things about slavery they were ready to forget, there were a few traditions they wanted to preserve. Every New Year's Eve, also known as “Watch Night” and “Freedom’s Eve,” the Jenkins would participate in a ring shout.
London and Amy taught the ring shout to their seven children, who then shared it with their own families. In 1980, a group of London and Amy’s descendants performed at a Georgia heritage festival. The group called themselves the McIntosh County Shouters, and today they continue to preserve, perform, and teach ring shout all over the country.
Is there a spiritual custom that your family upholds? Ask your elders about its history.
The ring shout is just one example of our ancestors preserving our sacred history, a history rooted in resistance through remembering. Let’s shout their sacred rememberings from the rooftops.