Blues Legacies and Black Feminism
Book description
From one of this country's most important intellectuals comes a brilliant analysis of the blues tradition that examines the careers of three crucial black women blues singers through a feminist lens. Angela Davis provides the historical, social, and political contexts with which to reinterpret the performances and lyrics of Gertrude…
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2 authors picked Blues Legacies and Black Feminism as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Iconic feminist, philosopher, and activist Angela Y. Davis put African American women at the center of the story of the blues, expanding our understanding of a genre usually presented as the purview of male artists. Discussing the music and careers of 1920s blues superstars Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith and 1930s jazz vocalist Billie Holiday, who was deeply influenced by the blues, Davis approaches the blues as music innovated, popularized, and consumed by African American women. She pays close attention to the impact of gender, race, and class on artists and audiences, and shows how these artists and their fans…
From Maureen's list on African American women who shaped popular music.
The well-known radical activist and scholar brings a wealth of knowledge on women’s blues songs to this collection of lyrics, stories, and keen feminist analysis—expanding on what we know about the oral tradition, the alternative venues available to Black women in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, and spotlighting Billie Holiday. Bessie Smith and Gertrude “Ma” Rainey. (A great text to pair with Gayle Wald’s Shout, Sister, Shout!, about the career of Sister Rosetta Tharpe.)
From Bonnie's list on women in rock, folk, and blues.
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