In 1939, the editors spoke out against the Daughters of the American Revolution when the group tried to prevent Marian Anderson from performing in Constitution Hall. Anderson performed instead at the Lincoln Memorial before a crowd of 75,000.
Music
Posted inArts & Culture, Ideas
The day Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day and Bruce Springsteen met at America magazine
Perhaps the most incredible day in the history of America happened in the lobby in 1967.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: The life of Bing Crosby, continued
Crosby was the most Catholic superstar the United States has ever seen.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
How gospel music helped me find my Catholic identity
My relationship with gospel music was forged not just on those Sunday mornings at home with Jackson and in church with my family but also on late nights in the backseat of a 1962 Chevy Bel Air sedan.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
Brandi Carlile’s Biblical imagination in ‘By the Way, I Forgive You’
What is there to gain from probing life’s wounds? Brandi Carlile has an answer in her new album.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
In the dead of winter, Helen Sung’s jazz feels like summertime
“Performing makes me feel vividly alive.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Faith
Is ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ the most misunderstood holiday song?
To truly get me into the spirit of the season, I need “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
Posted inFaith, Music
Advent Playlist: Classic hymns to help you wait in hope
Last year, ‘America’ published “An (unconventional) Advent Playlist.” This is my (much more conventional) Advent playlist.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
The Velvet Underground: rock’s first cult band
In a new exhibit, we are treated to a kind of shrine to the band’s origins.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
Is ‘Silent Night’ the greatest Christmas song ever?
On Christmas Eve 1818, in the church of St. Nicholas in Oberndorf near Salzburg, “Stille Nacht” (“Silent Night”) was sung for the first time. Today, the carol has been translated into some 300 languages.