Black history month

[blue_lotus13]

Several items of note-

February 6 marked the 60th anniversary of the birth of Bob Marley, musician and peace activist!

I saw a great commercial on Much Music yesterday. The screen flashed "No soul", and images of James Brown and Al Green and Aretha Franklin flashed by. Then "no blues" and John Lee Hooker and BB King and Etta James appeared on screen. "No reggae" was followed by Marley and Peter Tosh and "No Jazz" by Ella and Louis (I think). "No Rock" was followed by Chuck Berry and Prince. Then the screen read "KNOW HISTORY"- celebrate Black History month. This was an amazing and effective commercial.

I've become increasingly interested in black musicians and their role in changing and challenging segregationist policies in the United States. I'd like to read more about it. Does anyone know where I could start?

Comments

[zoje-george.livejournal.com]

Start with a biography of Billie Holiday and the other greats of that era -- oh wait, there's actually a biography of the song Strange Fruit. Which is considered the "first song of the civil rights movement."

Ken Burn's companion book to "Jazz" (and the series itself) -- I recommend this because it is filled with remembrances of actual musicians from that time who are still living, which can give you very good leads on what to read next and who.

[windup.livejournal.com]

well, most traditionally black music forms like jazz were often a challenge to racist american policies also due to the power structure of the recording industry itself. so many questions of who owns the music and who is the audience and where the money is coming from... look at mingus for example.

i also wrote a (not too thorough and very PBS-y) site sort of about this last year-
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/jimmyscott/