Interview
Madison Williams
Dr Harris
Eng 2017
4/22/2026
M=Madison
A=Artis
M-Ok, I will be interviewing Mr. Artis Williams about his music group, The Might Ambassadors
in the 70s. So first question, what made you get into music.
A-What made me get into music when I was a small boy, that my family was musically inclined
anyway, and so we decided that we would keep it up. And so after my peers were singing, we
just stayed in the singing business.
M-Ok. Why did y’all choose gospel music?
A-Well gospel music was the most impressive thing to do because we was, we was raised up in
the church and that’s the way that our parents raised us, and that's the way that we would go.
M-What did those lyrics mean to you when singing?
A-Come again?
M-What did those lyrics mean to you when singing?
A-In singing the gospel because it is the words of God which impressed us. This is the way that
our religion, our christianity. That was the way of life and it impressed me so much that I wanted
to be saved. And so we just kept, that what impressed me the most because it was singing about
God.
M-And you mentioned about you getting saved. So once you got saved and you know you lost
some friends how did that affect you?
A-Well, they thought when I gotten saved they thought I would come back you know out being,
you know in the world where they would be and what they was doing. But I stayed in the church.
I went around but I would never participate in what they was doing. Because of the fact salvation
it gives us another spirit. And I go by the scripture because of the fact that the Bible says in 2
Corinthians 5:17 if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature and old things would pass
away and behold all things would become new.
M-So how’d your tie your singing into the sermons?
A-Well I ties my singing into singing because of the fact the lyrics that we will choose. If it was a
song that say happy days. We will make a song out of it. If it was a song was saying bless the
Lord oh my soul and all that is within me we would make a song out of it. That was the most
impressive thing about singing about God.
M-How do you think gospel music has changed from back then when you were singing it to
now?
A-Well as we’ve been, as we begin to grow we understand that the world grows weaker and
wiser. We were trained to go to church. So when we were trained to go to church that was the
only rhythm that we would have. But since things have changed so much, the world have
changed, y’know, and so people have responded to like rock gospel y’know. They just start
singing it in a different manner y’know and getting and getting a different sound. That’s what’s
changing gospel music. But, thats the thing of the world and not of God.
M-Ok ok. That is all my questions I have for you. Thank you
A- I love you
M- Love you too
A- Is that all right?
M-Yes sir
https://pin.it/fFfs3Idug
ReplyDeleteThis collage was inspired by African American folklore. It includes multiple elements like Hoodoo references and bible verses along with important folklore references and some modern works as well. I chose African American folklore because of its purpose in providing comfort and hope in the harshest conditions. I chose to add the bible verse Philippians 4:13 because it was a hopeful message and is widely known by most African Americans, and just like the folklore is a hopeful message to those that feel powerless so that they can keep fighting. The image of the man in chains was added because of the stories of enslaved people jumping off the ship to escape slavery. A memorial was made for them under water to remember them. There is some modern folklore circulating the south even today about their story, some people say the south has such bad hurricanes, particularly where New Orleans is, because the enslaved people that jumped off of the ship are sending storms over to exact vengeance for the brutal institution of slavery. The book, “Ring Shout” was added because it is a horror fantasy about black people standing up to the kkk. In some way we can connect this to folklore because it also served a purpose to empower African Americans to stand up to their oppressors. Though the story is fictional, the message still stands, in the same way folklore are stories meant to convey a message; they both can be used in that way. I took an image from the book, “The People Could Fly” which I chose for its significance in African American Folklore and deep meaning. Both this story and the statue of the man in chains convey the message of escaping bondage, death can be interpreted as freedom in both. There is also a Hoodoo book which I chose to put next am image of the book of genesis to signify the connection between Hoodoo and the church because, though the tradition has died down today, Hoodoo was used to help African Americans when they felt powerless. Some of the traditions stayed today despite the practice being demonized; it is often practiced without the person practicing it understanding where it came from. Anansi is in the collage as well; he serves an important role as a trickster figure. Trickster figures were people that didn’t have much power in the world but used their whit to get by. African Americans could relate to it in the way that they themselves had little to no power but still managed to survive. It was also a hopeful message that there were means for them to win despite being in a situation where everything was meant to keep them down.