Heartland: AAAMC Speaks: Teresa Hairston: The Unstoppable Game-Changer
This foot-stomping documentary from Indiana University's Archives of African American Music and Culture spotlights a living legend in the gospel music community.
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You may not have heard of Dr. Teresa Hairston, but in the gospel music community she’s a giant among giants.
Though she was always an avid keyboardist, choir director and songwriter, Hairston’s true impact came as a promoter and journalist. She founded Gospel Today magazine, which is still available as a twice-monthy publication. Hairston helped build the industry up from the voices that rang out inside Black churches to an international audience.
Her story is chronicled in the lively documentary, “AAAMC Speaks: Teresa Hairston: The Unstoppable Game-Changer,” part of the Archives of African American Music and Culture at Indiana University.
It was directed by Ethan Gill and Haley Semian, and presented by IU associate professor and AAMC director Dr. Tyron Cooper, who acts as host/narrator and conducts a cheery ongoing conversation with Hairston herself.
The film is backed up by a dense array of photos, video and other archival footage along with interviews by the likes of gospel mainstays such as Dr. Bobby Jones and the Rev. Hezekiah Walker, who credit Hairston with spreading the word about gospel music to fresh ears.
Hairston began the magazine in 1989 with $300 from her income tax refund while working as a marketer with Savoy Records. She begged gospel legend the Rev. James Cleveland for permission to start a publication devoted to the genre, which formed the backbone of the African-American Christian community but saw little recognition from the industry charts or radio airplay.
“I would start these little publications that nobody saw,” Hairston jokes, admitting the early effort, known as The Score, may not have been the slickest-looking magazine ever. But it gradually built a following and in its heyday in the 1990s and early 2000s was considered the industry standard.
Hairston saw the magazine as focusing not just on music but as reflecting the lifestyle and values of Black Christians nationwide, so her coverage soon focused on things beyond songs and shows. She recruited young Black journalists or formed partnerships with the few existing ones devoted to gospel, like Lisa Collins at Billboard.
She saw the gospel music movement as the internal heartbeat of the ministry — which didn’t always endear Hairston to the powers-that-be. A 2008 cover story on female pastors provoked a lot of pushback and cancellations.
Hairston herself is a vibrant presence in the 47-minute documentary, a woman now reflecting back on a long, hard but joyous struggle. She launched her magazine while a single mother with three young children, building a life, a publication and a movement through sweat and ambition.
“Unstoppable” is a portrait of one woman who never learned how to quit. Even if you’re not a gospel fan yourself, it’s a foot-stomping celebration of Hairston’s love of God and the music that praises Him.