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[SOUNDS OF BLACKNESS, "WE GIVE YOU THANKS"] (SINGING) Thank you. Really truly want to thank you for who you are and know you.

REPORTER: It's not easy to define the Sounds of Blackness. Their music is an integration of spirituals, rhythm and blues, rap, jazz, and African-American melodies, all elaborately connected in complex harmonies.

(SINGING) Glorify you, we magnify you, we bless your heart and we appreciate you--

REPORTER: The sounds are rooted in the Macalester College Black Choir of 1969. Its founder, Russell Knighton, was then a junior attending Macalester on a merit scholarship from Beaumont, Texas. Out of the 1,100 students at the school, only 20 were black, and most were from other parts of the country. As a result, he says, they felt completely isolated. It was that isolation which gave way to a kind of support group for Black students. And as the years went on, says Knighton, the musical group evolved into a group making a statement.

RUSSELL KNIGHTON: It was about taking pride in yourself and your race and being-- not that we were anti-white, we just pro-Black at that point, trying to build some self-esteem, which was surely missing before.

REPORTER: For some of the Black Macalester students of today, the Sounds of Blackness hold special significance. Catherine Johnson, who helped organize the coming home concert, remembers the first time she heard the group.

CATHERINE JOHNSON: When I heard them perform, I was in awe. And we just sat there, and we just kept looking. And the lights had come up. And we were still just sitting there. It was really one of the most incredible things I'd ever heard.

REPORTER: Yet although the Sounds of Blackness grew out of the late 1960s, some students say much hasn't changed at Macalester. They say the college could do more to recruit minority students, and those like Clinton Nichols say Blacks at the college today are much like those of the 1960s-- from other parts of the country and still a very small part of the Macalester population.

CLINTON NICHOLS: I've basically come here-- I've discovered Middle America. I've discovered that America on the television set, you know?

SPEAKER: It's not reality, though.

CLINTON NICHOLS: I mean, yeah, it's not my reality. It's not the reality I go home to.

REPORTER: Nevertheless, some of the Black students at the college, like Lauren Nichols, say even more importantly than the music of the Sounds of Blackness is the role model they've set. She says, somehow, knowing that, 20 years ago, Black students at Macalester, just like her, went on to be so successful gives her inspiration to do the same.

LAUREN NICHOLS: I can achieve an amazing amount of goodness and greatness that doesn't have to be like being president, but just my own individual thing that we can all achieve some kind of our own personal success.

REPORTER: That's exactly the message that founder Russell Knighton says the group is trying to communicate. If any song epitomizes that, he says it's the main cut off the Evolution album, "Optimistic."

RUSSELL KNIGHTON: We're trying to impart a sense of self-esteem in our people and to let them know whatever, however bad it gets, just be a little optimistic, and things will change. But you have to have a sense of importance and self-esteem about yourself for that to occur.

[SOUNDS OF BLACKNESS, "OPTIMISTIC"]

(SINGING) When in the midst of sorrow

You can't see up when looking down

A brighter day tomorrow will bring

You hear the voice of reason

Telling you this can never be done

No matter how high reality seems

Just hold onto your dreams, yeah

Although it seems you never win

You never win

You will always pass the test

As long as you keep your head to the sky

You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky

You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky

Be optimistic

If things around you crumble

No, you don't have to stumble and fall

Keep pushing on and don't you look back, oh whoa

I know of storms and strife

Out of your album of life

Just think ahead and you'll be inspired

To reach higher and higher

You will always do your best

If you learn to never say never

You may be down, but you're not out

That's when I felt lifted

Don't give up and don't give in

Although it seems you never win

You will always pass the test

As long as you keep your head to the sky

You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky

Looking toward the sky

You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky

Faced toward the sky

[INAUDIBLE] as long as you keep your head to the sky

Keep on [INAUDIBLE]

Keep on [INAUDIBLE]

As long as you keep your head in the sky

Be optimistic

You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky

Be optimistic

You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky

[INAUDIBLE]

Be optimistic

You can win, yes

Yeah

In your head

Be optimistic

You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky

Be optimistic

You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky

Be optimistic

You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky

Be optimistic

You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky

Be optimistic

You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky

Be optimistic

You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky

Be optimistic

You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky

Be optimistic

Yeah

Yeah