spirituals have inspired and illuminated the lives of generations of Americans.Invented,edited,and transformed by those who sang them,spirituals are a source of pride and of cultural knowledge—strengthening,heartening,and informing.

Artist Aminzh Brenda Lynn Robinson,having drawn courage and wisdom from these songs all her life,here presents the images they evoke in her.She incorporates texts into the art—some of a little book of spirituals that was given to her when she was nine years old,some from a lifetime of just"hearing songs."Aminah has"re-remebered"these songs,adding to them,rearranging them,interpreting them.In this collection of striking drawings she passes on to the children of the future"the teachings,"the lessons of the past,the lessons of the spirituals,as she has understood them

Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson is an astonishingly prolific artist whose unique output includes drawings, paintings, sculptures, one-of-a-kiind books, and mixed-media works. She studied at the Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio, and at The Ohio State University. Her work has been shown in more than three hundred exhibitions in such places as the Columbus Museum of Art, the San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. The Teachings and Elijah's Angel are her first books.