honoring jonesville: our people, our community, our legacy
carry in my body the story and knowledge of my great great grandmother Lizzie Taylor, known to our family as Mama Lizzie, believed to have been born just a year after the end of slavery, who laid the foundation for generational success, developing the knowledge and skills to acquire farm land that would eventually house, feed, employ and sustain not only her own family, but the larger community. Her example is one of resourcefulness and ingenuity.
Exploring the Past through Ring Shout in Paule Marshall’s “Praisesong for the Widow”
Looking at black music and dance development in both the US and the Caribbean, Garcia identifies how Western cultural standards dominated discussions of culture, focusing on how racialized and sexualized bodies represented the primitive and savage through performance. Using theatrical productions, film, and performance hall recitals that “reproduced” African dance as historical “evidence,” viewers and scholars alike came to believe in Africa as a space that had not changed over the centuries, a haven for historical origins to which each member of the African diaspora could trace their roots.
Folklorist of The Month - shirley moody turner
Shirley Moody-Turner is an associate professor of English and African American Studies and founding co-director with Gabrielle Foreman of the Center for Black Digital Research/#DigBlk. She is an Author and award-winning educator that says, “As a young girl growing up in Buffalo, NY, I felt a deep longing to learn more about my family history. I would listen and ask questions as my family shared stories and talked, but I always felt there was much more to our history — stories laying beneath layers of silence… ”
INTERVIEW WITH BILL “HOWLING MADD” PERRY
n Gospel, I was sitting on the corner one day when I was about 13 or 14 years old playing my guitar and a guy drove up and asked me if I wanted to be a part of their group. A local group out of Chicago. Which I said yeah cause it had always been my dream to play with a group, especially with a Gospel group cause I was raised up in the church. So that's how that venture got started. It got started with I guess you would call one of the lowest groups on the totem pole.
Notable Folklorists of Color - The AFS African American Folklore Section
In this episode, Todd Lawrence, Maria Lewis, and Lamont Pearley will host a live stream event offered by the AFS African American Folklore Section, the African American Folklorist and Jack Dappa Blues featuring Notable Folklorists of Color creators and curators, Phyllis May-Machunda, Sojin Kim, and Olivia Cadaval.
Charlotte Forten Grimké
There is a deep and complex battle that hovers over Charlotte. In competition, being the first usually comes with celebration; however, in a racist society, being the first usually comes with sorrow, anger, rage, or plain sickness. I’m not necessarily saying Charlotte felt any of those emotions, though it’ll be hard to believe she didn’t.
Black Business in Colonial America
As enslaved Africans gained their freedom in colonial America, they used the labor activities learned in slavery to start a new life. Across the cities and towns of this nation, free Blacks set up agribusinesses and took up as bricklayers, gunsmiths, shoemakers, nurses and innkeepers to form the initial steps of the Black business community.
New Years Resolution Blues
I think, in an essence, this means going beyond the superficial tendencies we have during this time of year. I refer to Lil Son Jackson, who sings
Kesi Neblett - From Civil Rights Legacy to Netflix
I speak with the youngest daughter of Civil Rights Activists Charles and Marvinia Neblett, Kesi Neblett, who was born and raised in Russellville, KY, and has a fantastic story. She was also recently featured on THE Mole, a reality game shows that initially aired on ABC from 2001 to 2008 before being rebooted on Netflix in 2022.
WHITE PEOPLE CAN’T TALK ABOUT RACE
I am the grandson of a sharecropper on my father’s side. He had a simple philosophy about firearms: “better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.” Racism, then as now, represented a mortal threat, be it physical violence of the lynch mob or the systematic violence exercised by the legal system. My maternal grandfather was raised by a single mother who was born into slavery and washed clothes for white folks for a living. Nevertheless, she made sure that her ten children learned to read
Hair, Numbers, And History
Michelle Slater loves history. That’s a good thing because her family’s story is woven into Pittsburgh’s Hill District’s history about as tightly as possible. Slater’s grandmother wrote numbers for some of the Steel City’s best known numbers bankers
John Wesley Work III - composer, ethnomusicologist, educator, and choral director
In this broadcast, Todd Lawrence and I discuss the scholarship and work Of John Wesley Work III and the newly launched Award named in His honor. The AFS African American Folklore Section is proud to issue the first call for submissions for the new John Wesley Work III Award
From Me to You
In this episode, I speak with Deidra R Moore Janvier, Esq. about her new book, From Me to You: The Power of Storytelling and Its Inherent Generational Wealth.
Buffalo Soldier Project, San Angelo Texas, and Black History
In this episode of the African American Folklorist, I speak with Sherley Spears, NAACP Unit 6219 President, President of the National Historic Landmark Fort Concho, and founder of the Buffalo Soldier Project. The National Historic Landmark Fort Concho Museum preserves the structures and archeological site features for pride and educational purposes, serving the San Angelo, Texas community.
Subscribe to our newsletter.
Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates.