Speaker Series at 6 East State: Deacon Edie Hockspeier—The Origin, Composition, and Historical Use of African American Spirituals Edie’s presentation will begin with a discussion of the environment in which the enslaved worked and lived, giving birth to a huge body of African American spirituals. Next, she will explain the characteristics that are present in many spirituals such as call and response, use of the pentatonic scale, African rhythms, etc. Finally, Edie will describe how spirituals were used as “code songs,” allowing the enslaved to communicate with one another in front of their enslavers.