Ain’t Gon’ Study War No More

Asset credits: "Round silhouette vector cameo of a black woman..." by Untashable; "Birds gather around a talented song bird who sings..." By Rob Goebel; "Abstract Shape Gradient elements" By freeject.net; "波　海　暑中見舞い　背景" By J BOY; Put together by me - LeAnn D. Jenkins

Here is an audio version of this blog post (with a lil sing and clap-along at the end):

I'm thinking about that old spiritual that says, "I'm gonna lay down my burdens, down by the river side... I ain't gon study war no more."

I don't remember fully what those of my generation thought we were singing about when we were growing up in the black church in the United States. Baptism making you nicer and “more Christian,” maybe? I can imagine the ways the "study war no more" understanding has been or can be used to dispossess us of pulls toward revolution or retaliation against oppression. I can also imagine the ways in which it has been or can be used to promote non-violent protest and faith that God/ the Spirit will move on our behalf (as in with us, through us, and in others as a result of our protest). I learned, in looking up an audio recording for this blog, that it was used in anti-war protest during the Vietnam War.

The possibilities for its use are vast and I’m sure someone can give a history of how this spiritual has been understood and used within the black church, in protest, and at large. But I want to speak here of how it sits in my memory and my body. I’m interested in why it has come up for me now and what it is evoking in me. I certainly did not grow up knowing it as a literal anti-war protest song! I know its use felt much more personal than that. Currently, when I sing it, I feel like I’m bringing those two feels (anti-war protest + deeply personal change) together.

Now, I find myself singing "I ain't gon' study war no more" to evoke determination against violent systems built on exploitation and war, especially when the voices around me act like these systems are “righteous” or simply “normal.” I want to sing these words to say that I commit to divestment from those systems and repudiation of the philosophies, ethos, and mythos those systems espouse. My mind, my vision, and my dreams will not give them space or trust.

I want to sing "I'm gonna lay down my burdens down by the riverside" taking seriously the presence of the earth as a grounding and birthing force and the presence of water as a force that carries - washing away and bringing downstream. There is an inter-dependency that already exists between us and the earth. I want to enter into that relationship with intention.

I want to sing to pull myself into a rhythm of practice of sharing the load of life with the earth and water and listening to/ learning of them.

I want to sing these lyrics as a way of repossessing myself by the Spirit of Life. Saying that, in response to the wildness of life, I will “study” and tend to my relationship to the earth and others - NOT to war.

Now - I am sure I am not the first to utilize this song in this way. And the commitments and understandings it evokes have been growing in me over years - they’re not new. Still, using this song in this way, for my self, is giving me a potent and simple resource to meet the pressing shifts unique to this time.

I have carried this song in my heart and in my body for a long time and now it feels like it is creating something new while, oddly, pulling me back to the beginning again.

I invite you to sing this spiritual with me.

And I invite you to consider if there are songs of your childhood or heritage you too would like to re-write, re-purpose or transmute for today.

“Study War No More” by Cynthia Liggins Thomas. More credits and info at the end. Scripture references are also included. A note that they are “in the last days” type scriptures. So, end with the song if that causes you anxiety or discomfort.