Abstract
This song is powerful because I remember—being born and raised in the BLACK Pentecostal denomination named the Church of God in Christ (COGIC)—that one time as we sung it, someone, instead of merely raising their hand in praise, threw a handkerchief to the floor. The “word” that they could not say, but certainly could sing, literally took flight and eventuated on the ground. The word “hand” transformed from noun to verb, from its “hyptostasis, paralysis, and arrest suggested [as a] noun” to “the domain of action and the ability to act suggested by the verb” (Mackey, Discrepant Engagement 266). The singer corporeally performed an improvisation, literally rupturing the song by casting off the “word” and word that could not be said.
If I can’ t say a … word
If I can’ t say a … word
If I can’ t say a … word
I’ll raise my … hand
If I can’ t say a … word
If I can’ t say a … word
If I can’ t say a …
I’ll raise … my …
—Congregational Song
Powerful. This song. I remember.
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© 2012 Shaka McGlotten and Dána-Ain Davis
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Crawley, A.T. (2012). Can You Be BLACK and Work Here?. In: McGlotten, S., Davis, DA. (eds) Black Genders and Sexualities. The Critical Black Studies Series. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137077950_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137077950_11
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