The first of two volumes chronicling the history and role of music in the African- American experience, Nothing But Love in God's Waters explores how songs and singers helped African-Americans challenge and overcome slavery, subjugation, and suppression. From the spirituals of southern fields and the ringing chords of black gospel, to the protest songs that changed the landscape of labor, and the cadences sung in the face of dogs and water cannons in Birmingham, sacred song has stood center-stage in the African-American drama. Hundreds of interviews, one-of-a-kind sources, and rare or lost recordings are used to examine this enormously persuasive facet of the Movement. Nothing But Love in God's Waters explains the historical significance of song and helps us understand how music enabled the Civil Rights Movement to challenge the most powerful nation on the planet.