Commencing a foot-stepping, hand-applauding festival of gospel music, President Barack Obama said Tuesday that this specific kind of music had served to shape America, starting with the slave time and proceeding through the civil rights movement and beyond.

However “the heart” of gospel still stays genuine, in spite of the fact that it has advanced over time, Obama said.

“Regardless it has an unmatched energy to strike the most profound harmony in every last one of us, touching individuals of all beliefs and of no confidence,” he said as he opened the most recent in a progression of White House concerts, this one celebrating the part of gospel music in American life.

Gospel tunes are the “songs of hope,” Obama included. “Trust that we may transcend our disappointments and dissatisfactions. Trust that we may get His recovery. Trust that, in lifting our voices together, we, as well, may one day achieve the Promised Land.”