Kingdom Coming
or, the bold musical choices of abolitionist, Henry Clay Work
projected for 2022

As Hammerstein wrote, “You’ve got to be carefully taught.” In the case of Henry Clay Work, he was carefully taught to be on the right side of history. His father was involved in helping with the Underground Railroad, and Work was around Enslaved People from a very early age.

While his contemporaries were churning out offensive garbage for the minstrel stage, Work was using his song-writing talents to further abolitionism. The only cringe-worthy thing is that some of these “helpful” songs were written in the spurious Black dialect. While a song writer would not do this today, at the time, Work used the dialect to try to galvanize anti-slavery sentiment. We will explore this fascinating man and his compelling lyrics and music.