The Hymn of Freedom: Sinners and the Resilient Sound of Black Voices
- Fatima Privitt
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Music has always been deeply connected to culture. I remember as a young child my father would play the songs of artists spanning centuries, their voices kept alive through music. My mother would tell the stories from Africa, of our family and history, sharing the melodies of our culture. Storytelling through music and folklore passes history down through generations, preserving the voices of culture. The magnetic and life changing film released April 18, 2025 that is Sinners, is a film that illuminates the deep connection between culture, music, sound, and storytelling. The period piece, directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, Wunmi Mosaku, and Hailee Steinfeld, is a transformative reflection on the cultural significance of music, and the historical resilience of African Americans during the Jim Crow era. The film is set in 1932 in Clarksdale, Mississippi, amidst racial violence and major uncertainty for what lies ahead. Coogler examines extensive race relations within the film and the use of spiritual music as a form of remembrance, resilience, and healing for African Americans.
The film starts with the faint strumming of a guitar, accompanied by images of people from different cultures interacting with each other through sound. The narrator discusses the “piercing of the veil” between humans and music, illuminating the deep ancestral heritage each culture has with the beauty of music. Coogler sets the tone for the film, emphasizing the spiritual aspect of music and its power to connect past and future generations in the present moment. The narrator explains that storytellers “in Ireland were called fili, in Choctaw land, they were called firekeepers, and in West Africa they were called griots.” The gift of music serves as an ancestral healing practice that unites individuals across cultures, conveying stories from the past through connecting sound and traditions.
The film follows the story of two twin brothers, Elijah “Smoke” Moore and Elias “Stack” Moore. The two ran away from home to fight in World War I and lived in Chicago for eight years to escape the racial tensions of Jim Crow. After a long time away, they eventually return to their home Clarksdale, to open a Juke Joint- a place for Black people, by Black people. The film takes place over the course of 24 hours, weaving together multiple storylines that shape Smoke and Stack’s story. The main individuals who play a factor in the story are the twins' younger cousin and blues singer Sammy Moore, Smoke’s lover Annie, Stack’s lover Mary, artist Delta Slim, old friend Cornbread, singer Pearline, and store owners Grace and Bo Chow. Each character plays a crucial role in the story, representing different aspects of culture and how Southern Black culture is intertwined with everyday life amidst racial tensions and historical erasure. The majority of the characters face similar experiences and use various forms of healing to alleviate their suffering. Annie’s character is the depiction of strength in a Black woman. As a spiritual leader and hoodoo conjurer, she holds love and a will to protect those who are close to her. Sammy’s character represents the longing for freedom, and one’s search for their true voice. His internal conflict between his father’s religious views and his passion for music, collide throughout the film, orchestrating how he uses art and language as a mirage to enter a different world.
Each character plays a significant role in representing the evolution of Black remembrance through culture, religion, and sound. Sammy Moore is a young sharecropper who lives in the Sunflower Plantation with a passion for the blues and sharing music with others. Sammy is a central character in the film and serves as a storyteller, piercing the veil between life and death through his music. He idolizes street musician Delta Slim, who pours his passion for music and experiences of racial injustice through the sound of humming, harmonica, piano, and the blues. Shefali Arora found in the study Music as a blend of spirituality, culture, and mind-mollifying drug, how music’s spiritual and ancestral connection to culture plays a deep role in healing and the remembrance of those who have passed. A moment in the film that hit me deeply was when Delta Slim recalled a story about his old friend, who was a victim of lynching. As he was telling the story, he began humming. Humming and music in culture, especially African American culture, have become a form of sharing an emotion without speaking. Arora states how “Music is an expressive language that reflects the emotions, cultural characteristics of society, and even is the way to share ideas among people.” The film shows how culture, resilience, and history exist within an individual through music and storytelling, despite the violence that attempts to erase them.
The climax of the film features Sammy’s montage, a chilling sequence representing the meaningful connection between humanity and music, bridging the past and the future. The sequence begins as Sammy tells his story before singing his song “I Lied to You.” Before his performance, Delta Slim reminds him that “Blues wasn't forced on us like that religion… We brought this with us from home… It's magic what we do… It's sacred and big” (Coogler). Coogler highlights the ancestral passing of storytelling through time with one singular scene where music and time are connected, illustrating how sound interlocks all the cultural voices of the past and the future. The camera moves throughout the Juke Joint, illuminating different aspects of African culture and Black evolution in media. By orchestrating the beauty of dance from a vast range of social contexts around the world, this scene shows the power of voices, and storytelling. This moment captures how music is a strong force in maintaining the connection between life and death, the past and the present, and bondage and freedom.
Coogler’s use of music as a symbol for a longing for freedom and the enduring fire of African Americans' resilience powerfully illustrates how storytelling fosters remembrance and preserves history and culture. Sinners uses music to express the spiritual language of survival and resistance in the fight for liberation. Through sound, the power within an individual becomes a healing light in the darkness. With this film, Coogler emphasizes how music in the Black community unites people, honors those who have passed, fuels revolution, and keeps the resilient fire of hope alive within marginalized communities.
Ryan Coogler. Sinners. Warner Bros. Pictures, April 18th, 2025.