'Joyful Noise’ Heralds Black History Month

Nancy Wathel planned on spending Monday evening at Canton Public Library studying for her Schoolcraft Community College culinary classes.

The Canton woman and her 20-year-old son had just settled into their chairs at the library when she decided to visit the ladies' room.

In the hallway, she heard music from a nearby conference room, recognized gospel music and assumed it to be a choir practice.

“Then I saw the calendar,” she said, motioning to the large erasable board used to promote library programs. “And I saw a woman at the door. She invited me in to hear the music.”

Wathel quickly sent her son a text message and slipped into the conference room where she spent about 25 minutes listening to a program celebrating Black History Month with The Voices of Praise choir from Canton Christian Fellowship Church.

“I read about the church’s 10^th anniversary last fall and I thought, ‘I bet they have a great choir,” said Marcia Barker, the library’s programming coordinator, who organized the event. Light refreshments of cookies and soft drinks were served and children were able to made traffic lights with M&Ms and crackers – in honor of inventor Garrett Morgan, whose early traffic signal was honored by the federal government – and make paper crafts such as a blue jacket in honor of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play major league baseball in more than 50 years when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

But music dominated the majority of the evening.

Canton Christian Fellowship choir director, Leo Regular, showed the progression of gospel music from slaves’ a capella songs (which were used to communicate hidden messages, such as escape routes) to joyful contemporary music. By the end of the concert, the crowd was standing, singing along, swaying and clapping their hands.

Michael Johnson learned about Monday's concert on Sunday when he joined Canton Christian Fellowship.

Johnson, who owns G Tel Group in Livonia, said he grew up in Detroit and lived in Ann Arbor for 30 years before moving to Canton six years ago. “This is what I love about Canton," he said gesturing toward the choir members as they packed up after the show. "It’s such a diverse community and we all get along.”

He said his favorite moment during the concert “came at the very beginning, when they sang ‘Wade in the Water.’ It brought me back to the days of my grandmother. My family is from Georgia and she used to sing it all the time,” he said.

Wathel was delighted by her detour from homework to gospel music.

“It’s always worth it to take time out for Jesus,” she said, smiling.

Rev. David Washington Jr., Canton Christian Fellowship’s pastor, said he hoped to raise awareness of the progress African Americans have made since the time of slavery until now.

“God is bringing diversity to this community,” he said, adding that the main message is, “We are all God’s creatures.”