On this episode of Jack Dappa Blues, enjoy the collaboration of Jack Dappa Blues Radio and Southern Ohio Folklife for a conversation w/ Lady D (West Virginia’s First Lady of Soul) to talk about her recent performance of The Lady and the Empress, a one-woman show about the life and music of Bessie Smith, the Empress of the Blues. Learn about Bessie Smith, her role in Blues music, her lasting impact, and why Lady D was drawn to her life story.   On the day of the interview, Lady D later performed at the Southern Ohio Museum of The Lady and the Empress!   This project is made possible by Mid Atlantic Arts’ Central Appalachia Living Traditions program. Project collaborators include the 14th Street Community Center, Time Out for Me Inc., Portsmouth Unity Project, Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center, The African American Folklorist, and Jack Dappa Blues Heritage Preservation Foundation.   #wethebluespeople #appalachia #centralappalachia #ohio #appalachianohio #westvirginia #bessiesmith #blues #folklore #folklife #livingtraditions #southernohiofolklife #hiphoptraditions   Facebook: @MidAtlanticArts @CentralAppalachiaLivingTraditions @southern.ohio.museum @jackdappabluesradio @TheAfricanAmericanFolklorist @ladyandtheempress @fourteenthst @TimeOutForMeInc @dafields   Instagram: @fieldsdoris @MidAtlanticArts @centralapplivingtrad @jackdappabluesradio @africanamericanfolklorist @southern.ohio.musum --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

For some reason, when it comes to Country Music, most people do not associate it with black folk or folk musical expression. The thing is, country music, in its many forms, comes directly from black expression. i.e., the blues, country blues, and more. To give the context to the roots of commodified music presented and thought of as white music… We can use Leslie Riddle as an example… he was the teacher to the Carters for the music they would be credited for. Maybelle Carter always let that be known. In this episode, I discuss Why it is Always about Race regarding Country music, Country Blues, and Blackness. Coffle Gang and Domestic Slavery African American Tribal Music DONATION --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

Today, I speak with Candice Ivory about her new project, When The Levee Breaks. As said on her website After releasing three acclaimed albums of jazz-driven original songs, vocalist Candice Ivory reveals a whole new sound on When the Levee Breaks: The Music of Memphis Minnie. Raised in Memphis and based in St. Louis, Ivory hails from an illustrious musical family that shaped Memphis’s secular and sacred sounds. Her great-uncle was the singer and guitarist Will Roy Sanders of the Fieldstones, one of the premier Memphis blues bands from the 1970s to the 1990s. Ivory grew up in the church, and by the age of eleven, she was singing in a choir that featured the soon-to-be-famous R&B artist D’Angelo. When the Levee Breaks brings together all of her formative musical experiences in a tribute to Memphis Minnie (1897-1973), whose powerhouse vocals and compositional creativity served as inspiration for Ivory’s own innovations as the Queen of Avant Soul. Produced by singular guitarist-bassist Charlie Hunter, a onetime D’Angelo collaborator, Ivory’s When the Levee Breaks is a midnight run to the crossroads, where jazz, blues, gospel, and R&B all converge. https://candiceivory.com/ paypal.me/LamontJack  Join Patreon⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

Many Black Academic Scholars are also active practitioners in our respective cultures and traditions. That doesn't negate their ability to teach, mentor, or share skills and tricks of the trade with the folk. It actually makes them even more qualified. Some feel Black Scholars who are educated or formally trained cannot teach or pass on the folk tradition. I see it differently, and here's why. Charlotte Forten Grimke NAMA HARLEM (New Amsterdam Musical Association) Colored Musicians Club John Wesley Work III DONATE Join Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

On this episode, I'm encouraging all folks invested in the story of Black American tradition, folklore, folklife, material art, street art, religious belief, spiritual belief, Advocacy, Organization work, Public Programming, and everything that has to do with the "so-called" African American Narrative to submit work to the African American Folklorist Magazine and website. We no longer need to rely on any other platform to share, publish, or even interrogate our narratives. After a long-time supporter contacted me and shared how we are significant in disseminating and distributing the Blues People story, I felt it necessary to put the call out! Jack Dappa Blues Heritage Preservation Foundation is a focal point for researching, archiving, and raising awareness of African American Traditional Music, folklore, folklife, public programs, and the Black Experience!! The African American Folklorist Magazine gives a voice to those writing and working in and on Black American Folklore through the lens of Black Folk. From the nonprofit to the Magazine, this is the space for the story of everything African Americans. https://jackdappabluesradio.tv/ https://theafricanamericanfolklorist.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

On this episode, I speak with Shirley Moody-Turner, 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. Shirley has worked to unearth those stories and many others.  She has authored, edited, and written many books, essays, and journals depicting the African American story through a folkloric and ethnographic lens. She is highlighting and honoring the Black men and women scholars like her who have significantly contributed to the Blues and Black narrative of the Americas.  Her website also states, “Honoring the legacy of the intellectuals and activists I study, I also work in partnerships to carry these histories out into communities beyond the university. Through the Center for Black Digital Research/#DigBlk and the Black Women’s Organizing Archive, I work with extraordinary individuals to help public and scholarly audiences forge meaningful collaborations with the shared mission of bringing the buried and scattered histories of early Black organizing to digital life. “  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

On this episode, I speak with singer, songwriter, and music educator Hannah Mayree about her journey in music, culture, tradition, and the Black Banjo Reclamation Project. Hannah Mayree (she/her/they/them) is a creative facilitator and musician whose work and art lend itself as a tool for redesigning and reconnecting to our roots as humans on this planet. A banjoist, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and vocalist, Hannah shares original and traditional banjo compositions and harmonies through acoustic live vocal looping. She reminds us of the power found in our relationship to the earth, music, and community. They co-founded and creatively direct the Black Banjo Reclamation Project, which is currently creating musical, cultural, and land-based opportunities for Black, Afro-Diasporic communities around the world to work with the banjo as a tool for reclaiming ancestral wisdom & creating Afro-futures.  http://hannahmayree.com http://blackbanjoreclamationproject.org https://www.patreon.com/Hannahmayree?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator (embedded link for Patreon) https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwj5p_TWzYH9AhUUHzQIHdd6A2QQFnoECAoQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fhannah_mayree%2F%3Fhl%3Den&usg=AOvVaw3x0r2TmDf43NArkHU-9iAF (Embedded link for Instagram) Videos: https://youtu.be/EANT04mAd44 https://youtu.be/og3r1stPR9w https://youtu.be/X7JjQZJRtbs https://youtu.be/z1BAVugqVGE Lessons/Teaching: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19LCljx1e4cvDVKvV0JMYedtJnd4aZvfhge8o-Wsl0A0/edit  Articles: https://afropop.org/articles/black-banjo-reclamation-projects-hannah-mayree --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

In this episode, I will speak with Kristina R. Gaddy about her journey and New York Times best-selling book, Well of Souls - Uncovering The Banjo's Hidden History. Kristina R. Gaddy is an award-winning writer who believes in the power of narrative nonfiction to bring stories from the past to life in order to inform the world we live in today. Her debut nonfiction book Flowers in the Gutter (Dutton 2020), tells the true story of the teenage Edelweiss Pirates who fought the Nazis. Through narratives based on memoirs, oral history interviews, and Nazi documents, she immerses the reader in the world of these teenagers as they resist the Third Reich. Her book Wells of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History (W.W. Norton 2022) is an extraordinary story unfolding across two hundred years, where she uncovers the banjo’s key role in Black spirituality, ritual, and rebellion. For More: https://www.kristinagaddy.com/about.html --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

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. The conversation will detail the inspiration, vision, purpose, and work of creating such a monumental installment. We will also discuss the follow-up project called, "Notable Folklorists of Color: Expanding the Frames ." Notable Folklorists of Color is a website that features profiles of BIPOC ancestor scholars of color and their contributions to folklore studies. The 2019 exhibition, Notable Folklorists of Color: Remembering Our Ancestral Legacies, marked the 25th anniversary of AFS’s Cultural Diversity Committee by honoring 25 BIPOC ancestors, and the 2022 Notable Folklorists of Color: Expanding the Frames exhibition highlights the scholarship of approximately another 135 African American, Indigenous, Latino and Hispano, Asian American and Native Hawaiian ancestor scholars. Combined, the two exhibitions feature more than 160 BIPOC folklore ancestors. The Notable Folklorists of Color: Expanding the Frames exhibition extends the examination of the contributions of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) ancestor scholars to folklore studies that was begun in the AFS Notable Folklorists of Color: Remembering Our Ancestral Legacies exhibition in 2019. Remembering Our Ancestral Legacies marked the 25th anniversary of AFS’s Cultural Diversity Committee by honoring 25 BIPOC ancestor scholars of color and their contributions to folklore studies. Our 2022 exhibition, Expanding the Frames, highlights the scholarship of approximately another 135 African American, Indigenous, Latino and Hispano, Asian American and Native Hawaiian ancestors scholars whose work, in what is now the United States and its territories, spans the 19th century through 2021, bringing the combined total number of BIPOC ancestors featured in these two exhibitions to more than160. Expanding the Frames recognizes the scholarly contributions of approximately 135 African American, Indigenous, Latino and Hispano, Asian American and Native Hawaiian ancestors scholars whose work in what is now the United States and its territories spans the 19th century through 2021. In contrast to Remembering our Ancestral Legacies (2019), this exhibition, Expanding the Frames, centers BIPOC ancestors—who often have worked within their own communities—as significant producers of scholarly knowledge about the communities and traditions they studied. Although some of these ancestor scholars applied mainstream academic approaches and perspectives in their folklore research, regarding the “folk” as remnants of the past, others alternatively anchored their research in the cultural knowledge frameworks and traditions of their own communities and worked intentionally for the benefit and futures of their living communities.  Some of these ancestors’ theories and approaches are resonant with contemporary praxis, while several others are representative of the historical periods and circumstances within which they were conceived.   Be sure to become a member of the American Folklorist Society https://americanfolkloresociety.org/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

On this episode, I speak with Brei Carter, Country Singer-Songwriter, about her journey in Music and her signing with Brown Lee Entertainment For Exclusive Global Music Distribution & Digital Marketing. Emerging crossover country and southern pop recording artist Brei Carter proves that faith, patience, and time sometimes pay off. Growing up in Monroe, Louisiana, with a solid, southern upbringing, Brei’s family raised her on several authentic southern staples: the Bible, Lone Star Missionary Baptist Church’s choir, Charley Pride, Loretta Lynn, Aretha Franklin, and no shortage of familial love and devotion. However, before she became the dynamic and vivacious country singer she is today, Brei was busy earning a Bachelor's in Business from the University of Louisiana in Monroe, a Master's in International Relations from Webster University, and a Doctorate in Theology from New Foundation Theological Seminary. She is also a proud Veteran of the U.S. Army, where she served as an enlisted soldier and officer. Having moved to Nashville soon after, Brei has quickly established herself in the songwriter's community as a smooth and sometimes edgy songstress who melds country, soul, and southern pop into one fused style. Her first single at country radio, “Gave Him A Girl,” was immediately recognized as “cute and catchy” by country music journalist and historian Robert K. Oermann in his weekly DISClaimer review column for Music Row Magazine. Brei made her CMA Fest debut in 2022, along with a performance on WoodSongs Old Time Radio Hour. Her growing catalog of new music includes her debut album Brand New Country, released in Fall 2022, and new music on the way in 2023 slated for April & June. Carter is quickly proving herself to be a welcomed addition to the emerging new styles of country music in today’s diverse musical landscape. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

There is excellent Black Folklife, Indian Folklore, Black Music, AND educational oral history in Kentucky and nationally that Jack Dappa Blues Heritage Preservation Foundation archives and builds a repository for. In this episode, I discuss Storyville, Oklahoma, Freedmen, Blues, and the People of the Blues To Raise Cultural and Ethnic awareness of Black American Traditional Music, Traditional Art, Folklore, Oral Histories, and the Black Experience in America. I'm asking for donations to Jack Dappa Blues Heritage Preservation Foundation because their mission means a lot to me, and I hope you'll consider celebrating with me. Your contribution will make an impact. Every little bit helps. Thank you for your support. https://www.facebook.com/donate/6035802536450984/ paypal.me/LamontJack --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

On this episode, I speak with Dr. Diana Baird N'Diaye, The African American Folklorist of the Month! Dr. Diane Baird N’Diaye is an interdisciplinary Visual artist/maker and cultural scholar. N’Diaye developed and headed the African American Crafts Initiative, is the principal investigator and Curator of the Will to Adorn: African American Dress and the Aesthetics of Identity, was awarded the Smithsonian Secretary's Research Prize for Curatorial Conversations: Cultural Representation at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival; and currently holds the position as Senior Folklife Curator, Cultural Specialist, Directs African American Craft Initiative at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage.  She’s written many pieces and engages directly with traditional arts. Dr. N’Diaye fancies herself a maker, creating everything from quilts to necklaces, clothing, bags, and everything in between. As a maker, her focus is to provoke conversations and contemplations around identity, heritage, healing, and the social terrain in those of the diaspora live.  Utilizing her creativity as an anthropologist, Diane’s travel and research permeate through her work. N’Diaye says, “ My art is shaped by my identities as a citizen of global Africa and 2nd generation transnational.” As the African American Folklorist of the Month, I had the honor to sit with Dr. N’Diaye and discuss her journey, works, and thoughts on Black in the academic and independent Folklore space. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

On this episode, we speak about, Why is B.OB. Essential in an era we are supposed to be united and integrated? What do we expect from a B.O.B. that we don’t expect from anyone else? And most of all, How do I determine where I spend my Money? The criteria for the last question is broken down by : Customer Service Products Locations We also discuss what is needed in the community. Are there any B.O.B.'s filling those voids, or are they just opening and operating the business that has become culturally popular? B.O.B = Black Owned Business MASKS OFF POWERED BY BLACK LOVE: Hosts Lamont Jack Pearley Roscoe McCoy Coach Black --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

By Lamont Jack Pearley On this episode, I speak with Glen David Andrews, born and raised in Treme's 6 Ward, only blocks away from the historical Congo Square in New Orleans, Louisiana!  Andrews shares that the gumbo of New Orleans culture is evident in the music and traditions and should be honored. Andrews knows who he is, where he comes from, and the people he descends from. One of the many musicians in his family, Glen's music transmits the roots of New Orleans. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

On this episode, 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 show that originally aired on ABC from 2001 to 2008 before being rebooted on Netflix in 2022. Charles “Chuck” Neblett’s songs of protest resounded in southern jails, SNCC meetings, and freedom marches. As a child in rural Tennessee, Neblett remembered walking to his one-room schoolhouse and being sickened by the “fancy white school that was two stories tall.” His teachers motivated him, saying, “You’re Black, but you can make it. The one thing they can’t take from you is what’s in your head.” On September 23, 1955, the murderers of Emmett Till were acquitted, and “it told me that I didn’t count in this country,” remembered Neblett. A little over two months later, the Montgomery Bus Boycott triggered something inside of him: “When I saw those Black men and women standing up to the system, it’s like I got religion.” Kesi shares with us how she is living, continuing and writing her narrative! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

After sitting in and listening to the presentation "Greenwood’s Past, Present, and Future" at this year's American Folklore Society Conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Quraysh Ali Lansana (Tri-City Collective) and Carlos A Moreno (Tri-City Collective) shared the true story of the happenings before, during and after the 1921 Riots of Tulsa, I thought it would be beneficial for the Jack Dappa Blues and African American Folklorist Audience to get a more in-depth version of the story by folks that are from there doing the work! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

From Me to You: The Power of Storytelling and Its Inherent Generational Wealth 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. From Me to You is the answer to one crucial question: “So, Mom, what exactly was slavery about?” asked the author’s young son after learning of the atrocities of the Holocaust and slavery. Faced with the formidable challenge of answering her son’s question, Deidra devoted herself to exploring African American history with the end goal of creating a teachable moment. Starting with Ida B. Wells and ending with President Barack Obama, From Me to You features illustrations and short biographies of the most prominent 19th and 20th-century civil rights activists, centering their voices with quotes and affirmations anchored in the time in which they lived. Through stories about family, faith, and the power of multigenerational unity, From Me to You explores the legacy of slavery in America from the viewpoint of enslaved Africans and their descendants. Deidra proves that African American history is American history and that these two concepts rely on each other for posterity. Author Deidra R. Moore-Janvier, Esq. exemplifies the Bronx area. As an African American mother, wife, and advocate for change, Deidra set out on a journey in 2020 to teach young minds “the value in investing in themselves and in learning about their history.” Deidra is no stranger to self-investment. As a single mother in 1996, she quit her job to attend law school. Upon graduating from the City University of New York School of Law (CUNY School of Law), Deidra worked as a public defender with The Legal Aid Society in Bronx County. In 2004, she established the Law Offices of Deidra R. Moore, P.C. Her work is deeply informed by her personal and professional experiences. http://www.deidramoore.com/about/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

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, which the section has launched to honor and spotlight applied folklorists, ethnographers, and ethnomusicologists who actively focus on the research, documentation, recording, and highlighting of African American culture through performance, written word, and music in their scholarly works.    Our Featured Guest is Fisk Alumni George 'Geo' Cooper, a pianist, composer, and music educator. While at Fisk, he was a member of the world-renowned Fisk Jubilee Singers. The prize is named for John Wesley Work III, a composer, ethnomusicologist, educator, and choral director devoted to documenting the progression of Black musical expression. His notable collections of traditional and emerging African American music include Negro Folk Songs and the Archive of American Folk Song in the Library of Congress/Fisk University Mississippi Delta Collection (AFC 1941/002). The Stovall Plantation recordings for the Library of Congress where the world is introduced to blues legend McKinley Morganfield, aka Muddy Waters.   In honor of Work, this award is offered to celebrate and encourage African American traditional cultural expression and galvanize folklorists, ethnographers, and ethnomusicologists of color to participate in the documentation of African American folklife. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

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. One significant story coming from Fort Concho and the San Angelo community is the contributions and community development of and by the Buffalo Soldiers. In 1866, Congress established the 9th, 10th, 24th, and 25th U.S. Cavalry Regiments for enlisted colored people in the Army. Eventually, troops from each of these regiments served at Fort Concho. These black troops would be given the name ”Buffalo Soldiers," allegedly, by the Indian tribes because of their dark, thick, curly hair resembling buffalo hair. Fort Concho, originally established in 1867, was built for soldiers protecting frontier settlers traveling west against Indian tribes in the area. A notable member of the San Angelo community of that time was Elijah Cox. Elijah enlisted in the military and was stationed at Fort Concho, in San Angelo, Texas in 1871. Elijah was a fiddler he and his son, Ben played for all of the dances at the Fort. Elijah, born and remained a freeman, settled in San Angelo, Texas, and would learn the songs of the slave from ex-slaves now soldiers. Elijah would become the traditional bearer of these songs as he played fiddle, guitar, and sang. You can hear my podcast on his story here. https://youtu.be/jOV68xA9EBE  These, and much more crucial historic narratives are being preserved by Ms. Sherley Spears and the organizations adamant of raising the awareness of African American contributions to the establishment and sustainability of Fort Concho & San Angelo, Texas. https://sanangelonaacp.org/  https://fortconcho.com/home/about/mis... --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message

Louisiana BLUES VIXEN GEMINIIDRAGON is set to take over the BLUES MUSIC community with her latest single JUST THE WAY IT IS from her upcoming album FIGHTING FIRE WITH FIRE!   From the murky bayous of Louisiana, comes a fresh face to the Blues music scene. A vocal dynamo GeminiiDRAGON has channeled her love for the late 60s era and 70s blues and AOR bands/artists the likes of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Albert King, Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Koko Taylor, Jimi Hendrix, ZZ Top, Janis Joplin, Fleetwood Mac, Cream and Led Zeppelin and the supergroup Arc Angels, to name a few, into a ferocious mix of blues-rock soul…. Blues on Steriods!!!  More on GeminiiDragon here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ4TKJUrJUo   To Donate to Jack Dappa Blues Heritage Preservation Foundation follow this link https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/LamontJack/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africanamericanfolklorist/message