Music in the Black Revolution

Join us on Thursday, December 3rd at 6:30 PM for an in-person event at the Schomburg Center focused on revolutionary music. Mary D. Williams, co-author of Mahalia Jackson, Moving On Up a Little Higher: The Story of an American Civil Rights Pioneer, will discuss the legendary “Queen of Gospel” who used her transcendent voice to become an overlooked but guiding force of the civil rights movement.  Quito Swan will present on Born a Sufferah: Dancehall Music’s Insurgent Soundscapes, incisively reimagining the internationalist, diasporic, and decolonial politics of dancehall music. Jibola Fagbamiye, co-author with Conor McCreery of Fela: Music is a Weapon, will discuss the Afrobeats and political struggles in Nigeria. Soyica Diggs Colbert will present on Freedom’s Gate: Maya Angelou, Lorraine Hansberry, Abbey Lincoln, Miriam Makeba, & Nina Simone, illuminating the entangled lives of five foundational cultural workers and freedom fighters.