The history of gospel music in both Britain and Black Britain is one that – despite the important efforts of a handful of pioneers – still has yet to be told.

While it is my privilege to be part of a research group that is collaborating on what will become the first-ever academic edited volume on Black British Gospel Music (for Routledge), my concern at this moment is not the canon of academic niceties that govern that sort of discourse concerning how this music should be understood. While the word ‘manifesto’ may be a little contrived for what follows, this post should indeed be understood as a declaration of intent regarding my bid to become a Senator of one of the most prestigious bodies in the Western music industry: the Ivors Academy. I have long held that classical music offers the most important intellectual musical challenges in Western music…