October 26, 2021
“You’ve got to learn to show kindness to those that feel that nobody cares about them."
Mahalia Jackson was born on October 26, 1911. She is known as the “Queen of Gospel” with an extensive career to prove it. She sang at John F. Kennedy’s presidential inauguration, opened for MLK Jr. at the 1963 March on Washington, and was the first gospel artist to win a Grammy Award. While her music was influenced by jazz and blues, she only sang gospel music.
At her funeral in 1972, Coretta Scott King recalled MLK Jr.’s words about the famous singer, saying, “A voice like this comes, not once in a century, but once in a millennium.”
Mahalia Jackson Interview 1971
Talking about why she chose to sing gospel music: “When you sing gospel you have a feeling there is a cure for what’s wrong. But when you are through with the blues, you’ve got nothing to rest on.”
by Jenna Lee,
