Join the DEIA team on Friday, February 16 at 12:00 p.m. for a talk by Maya Cunningham, an ethnomusicologist, a jazz vocalist, and a cultural activist at UMass Amherst. Maya will explore the Black musical forms and songs of artists that have expressed African American freedom-seeking strategies and related political ideologies. Music has always been a major mode of expression for African Americans, connecting the group to their African homeland and deeply rooting them to American soil. These roots birthed foundational African American traditions like blues, jazz, gospel and soul that are intertwined with the African American activist tradition.
Maya Cunningham will explore the symbiosis between Black American music, long-standing African American freedom-taking strategies and political ideologies that define Black history. Liberation strategies, including accommodation, agitation and migration, as well as potent political ideologies, like the Black liberalism of W.E.B. Du Bois, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, to the Black nationalism of Malcom X, Stokely Carmichael and Amiri Baraka, have been expressed in powerful songs that have fueled social revolution. The Black revolutionary tradition in song chronicles the history of the group, from African American spirituals birthed on Southern soil during slavery, as echoed in the power vocals of activist Fannie Lou Hamer, and the fiery jazz protest songs from musician and Civil Rights Movement activist Max Roach, to bold societal confrontations and revolutionary direction in the poetry-infused, jazz fusions of Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez and Gil Scott Heron that marked the rise of Black nationalism in the 1970s.
About Black History Month
Every February, people in the United States celebrate the achievements and history of African Americans as part of Black History Month.
The month of February focuses on the contributions of Black Americans and honors all Black people from all periods of U.S. history, from the enslaved people first brought over from Africa in the early 17th century to Black Americans living in the United States today.
Additional ways to recognize Black History Month:
- Read a book by a black author. Here are two book recommendations by brilliant Black authors and historical figures: Maya Angelou’s classic memoir “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas. These books are poignant, captivating, educating and in some cases, life changing. Check out Chicago Public Library's Black History Month Book List for more books that cover several Black history topics.
- Listen to podcasts that focus on black history. There are plenty of excellent podcasts to listen to in celebration of Black History Month as well. Some top picks include “Historically Black,” which was hosted by celebrities such as Keegan-Michael Key, Roxane Gay, and Issa Rae, “The Black History Buff Podcast” by King Kurus, “Witness Black History” by BBC Worldwide, and “Code Switch” by NPR.
Communication developed by Chanda Wolf.