– [Narrator] Coming up with a broken promise ringing in their ears, thousands of black musicians fled the south. – It is still a Jim Crow reality. – [Robert] You couldn’t even walk on the same side of the street as a white person. – [Narrator] They joined the greatest migration in US history. – Thomas Dorsey, a blues musician.
– [Johari] Mahalia Jackson, Sallie Martin. – [Robert] And they came looking for jobs, looking for respect. – [Narrator] For them, Chicago was a city of renewed faith and bold aspirations. – They made the music. You had honkey-tonk music, your church music, that blues when you were feeling bad.
– [Narrator] With a sanctified mix of blues and jazz, they formed an explosive new genre called gospel.
Read More: Brigham Young – A short history
