tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post4182342280852385312..comments2024-03-28T07:58:41.643-04:00Comments on pancocojams: Video & Full Text Of President Obama's Eulogy For Reverend Clementa PinckneyAzizi Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-64604169915577080472015-06-27T16:06:31.325-04:002015-06-27T16:06:31.325-04:00Here's a link to a pancocojams post that I jus...Here's a link to a pancocojams post that I just published about applauding in church:<br /><br /><a href="http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/06/applauding-during-church-services.html" rel="nofollow">http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/06/applauding-during-church-services.html</a>. Azizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-34725951480126575202015-06-27T09:38:26.470-04:002015-06-27T09:38:26.470-04:00Definition of "eulogy" from http://dicti...Definition of "eulogy" from <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/eulogy" rel="nofollow">http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/eulogy</a><br /> "a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially a set oration in honor of a deceased person." <br /> -snip-<br />In my experience, African American eulogies are very much like sermons. Like sermons, eulogies are usually given by a pastor. At the end of a number of eulogies that I've attended, the pastor even "opens the dooors of the church" (invites people in attendance who haven't accepted Jesus as their Lord & Savior to come forward and join the church.) Full disclosure- I really dislike that custom. And I'm old school about applauding during church services or eulogies (in other words, I prefer verbal exclamations like "Amen!", "Yes!" and "Preach!" to applauding. But if other people want to applaud, so be it. <br /><br /><br />Azizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-11932133208104952922015-06-27T03:20:08.143-04:002015-06-27T03:20:08.143-04:00A 2002 blog post and comments on "Applause in...A 2002 blog post and comments on "Applause in church" <a href="http://www.choralnet.org/view/221465" rel="nofollow">http://www.choralnet.org/view/221465</a> contains various opinions on the subject of whether it's acceptable for members of the congregation to applaud after a church choir and particularly after a children's choir ends their song. Although it's not indicated in that article or comments, I believe the blog poster and commenters are White Americans. One commenter wrote that he is embarrassed when people clap after his choir performs in church because "We are they're [sic] to worship, not perform. They are a "congregation" not an "audience"". Another commenter wrote that choirs aren't suppose to sing for "self-glorification" and another commenter wrote "My personal feeling is that the people performing should be doing so for the glory of God, and the edification of the congregation". All of those sentiments could have been raised (and may have been raised/may be raised now in African American churches. <br /><br />Paraphrasing their words, several commenters to that blog post wrote that applause after choirs sing is comparable to saying "Amen!". I think that's significant because I believe that the applause that members of the audience made during President Obama's eulogy for Reverend Pinckney was made instead of (and often along with) verbal affirmations such as "Amen!". It should be noted that often when the transcript of this eulogy gives the applause description, some members of the audience also gives some verbal acknowledgement in the traditional call & response style of African American churches. Also, some "responses" (exhortations/exclamations) to President's Obama's "call" are made during that eulogy without any indication in that transcription.<br /><br />To be somewhat more specific, I believe that the audience's applause during President Obama's eulogy for Reverend Pinckney didn't always indicate approval (agreeance) for what he said. Sometimes that applause meant that the audience (or some members of that audience, and particularly the African Americans in attendance) appreciated the way that President Obama said something, or appreciated that President Obama "dared" to speak about a particular topic. And the audience's applause during the eulogy could have meant all of the above.<br /><br />I wonder how customary it is for members of African Methodist Episcopal (AME) churches to applaud during a sermon or a eulogy. Did some of the African Americans in attendance at Reverend Pinckney's funeral applauded at intervals during that eulogy because they thought doing so was more acceptable in an interracial gathering than making verbal responses to President Obama's statements? Did some of the non- African Americans in that audience lead the applause? <br /><br />I'm curious what your thoughts are about that applause. Is it your experience that congregants applaud a sermon or eulogy and when did this custom begin?<br /><br />Azizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-22551302716631804412015-06-27T03:16:51.039-04:002015-06-27T03:16:51.039-04:00Audience applause usually occurs at the end of a p...Audience applause usually occurs at the end of a performance as a public demonstration (indication) that the audience appreciated that performance. However, during the eulogy that President Barack Obama gave for South Carolina pastor and state Senator Clementa Pinckney, the audience (or part of the audience) clapped during the eulogy, at the end of and, sometimes, at the beginning of or during certain statements that President Obama made.<br /><br />I believe that applause during sermons or eulogies isn't traditional in African American churces, including churches that belong to the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) denomination. Furthermore, I believe that many if not most African American churches disaprove of applause after a choir sings during a formal church service because the choir or others are supposed to be performing for God and not for themselves. However, according to my recollections, it has become acceptable since at least the 1960s for African Americans to applaud at the end of music performances or other performances such as church mime or dance during religious programs including recitals and revivals. That applauding is different from the traditional custom of the congregation clapping to the beat during a choir or other musical rendition of a song.<br /><br />My recollections are of my regular attendance of church services and church events at a Black Baptist church in Atlantic City, New Jersey (1950s-1969) and my sporadic attendance at that same Baptist church in New Jersey, and at other Baptist churches and usually Baptist churches in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania after 1969 to date. <br /><br />[Comment to be continued.]<br /><br />Azizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.com