Here’s something slightly unusual, but definitely cool: earlier this week, Congress passed a resolution “recognizing the African-American spiritual as a national treasure.” Gospel Gal has the full text of Senate Resolution 69. Here’s the key section:

Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) recognizes that African-American spirituals are a poignant and powerful genre of music that have become one of the most significant segments of American music in existence;

(2) expresses the deepest gratitude, recognition, and honor to the former enslaved Africans in the United States for their gifts to the Nation, including their original music and oral history; and

(3) encourages the people of the United States to reflect on the important contribution of African-American spirituals to United States history and to recognize the African-American spiritual as a national treasure.

There’s more info about the resolution at the Library of Congress website here.

Now, I’m not entirely sure what it means, practically speaking, to recognize a genre of music as a national treasure. But it’s a nice acknowledgment of one of the great artistic contributions to emerge from Christianity in recent history. (It’s too bad that its roots lie in the practice of slavery, which was perpetrated for far too long by a heavily Christian America.)

Gospel Gal is celebrating by listening to a new album of spiritual songs. Maybe I should fire up iTunes and pick up a few of them myself. Any suggestions?