Episode 3 | Alisha Lola Jones on Gender Performances of Black Male Gospel Singers

What should a man sound like when singing Gospel music in the Black church? What octave is just “too high” for a man to incorporate into his
performance?

The cultural expectations that come with Black worship sometimes fail to validate the liberty of expression of many male vocalists due to what congregants think is acceptable gender performativity. In this provocative episode, Left of Black host Mark Anthony Neal sits in conversation with Alisha Lola Jones, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University and author of  Flaming? The Peculiar Theopolitics of Fire and Desire in Black Male Gospel Performance.