Overby Center to present program on Black gospel music and free speech in February
By Overby Center staff
Black gospel music and its free speech implications will be the focus of a program by the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics. “Free Speech, Freedom Songs and the Music of Liberation” will be presented in the Overby Center auditorium on Feb. 25 as a part of Black History Month.
Robert Darden, a member of the Overby Center panel of experts, will moderate the program that will feature live music from Billy Johnson & God’s Creation, a Black gospel group from Newton, Miss. In the program, Darden will offer historical context to the origins of protest spirituals and Freedom Songs and highlight some of the most famous pieces that will be performed by Johnson’s group.
Billy Johnson & God’s Creation will appear at the Overby Center program on Feb. 25, 2026.
Darden is emeritus professor of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media at Baylor University. He is the author of more than two dozen books, including “Soon & Very Soon: The Transformative Music and Ministry of Andraé Crouch,” for Oxford University Press with Stephen Newby. A former newspaper journalist and magazine editor (senior editor, The Wittenburg Door and gospel music editor, Billboard Magazine), Darden is the most awarded professor in Baylor history. He is founder of the Black Gospel Music Preservation Program at Baylor, the world’s largest initiative to acquire, scan, digitize, catalog and make accessible America’s fast-vanishing legacy of vinyl from gospel music’s Golden Age.
“Freedom songs – the original music of liberation – were meant to be sung,” Darden said. “While we’ll have a brief presentation on the history of the music, including rare recordings from the Black Gospel Music Preservation Program, the emphasis will be on the community singing of these priceless songs – it’s in the communal singing of them that they gain their enduring power!”
Johnson has recently released a single, “You Are God Alone,” which is available on digital outlets. His group, formed in 2010, has performed in various venues in the South. Members of the group include his mother, Joyce Kelley, Catina Robinson, Jonathan Hales, Pamela Harris, T’Rone McDonald, Adrian Mitchell and Roderick Fox.
Both Darden and Johnson say that those attending should come ready to join in singing several of the most historic gospel songs. The program will begin at 5:30 in the Overby Center auditorium on the Ole Miss campus. The program will last approximately 90 minutes, and a reception for all attendees will follow. Free parking is available near the Overby Center at 555 Grove Loop.
