Blues are the songs of despair, but gospel songs are the songs of hope.

By this time Mahalia Jackson had also become a familiar face to British television viewers as a result of short films of her performing that were occasionally shown. Jackson said Mahalia Jackson hoped her music could “break down some of the hate and fear that divide the white and black people in this country”. Several aunts and cousins lived in the house as well.

"I sing God's music because it makes me feel free" Jackson once said about her choice of gospel adding "It gives me hope. She was described by entertainer Harry Belafonte as "the single most powerful black woman in the United States". Mahalia Jackson (pron.