Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.34 (523 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0679771263 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 464 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-06-04 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"READ IT!" according to Ashley O'Brien. this is such a cool book. I loved learning about African American feminism in the context of American History, and more importantly: music. I wish they made such thorough and exciting books for every genre of American music, but this history is unique and definitely worth the read. Bought it for a class and read the entire thing before any assig. "i enjoyed this book." according to Reader. i was writing a paper for a grad class on blues women using Ann Petry's The Street as a main source, and this book came in handy. Davis gives us some really good insight into the worlds of blueswomen. When i get settled, i will reread this so that i can catch everything i may have missed first time around.. Herstory not history Michele Johnson Angela Y. Davis tells the story of women's blues during the 1920s and 1930s. She closely analyses lyrical content and sets the songs of the 'Classic' blues singers within a historical context of feminism. The text is brilliant to read. It is an exciting new (though written in 1999) way of conceptualising the political nature of women's blues.
From one of this country's most important intellectuals comes a brilliant analysis of the blues tradition that examines the careers of three crucial black women blues singers through a feminist lens. Through meticulous transcriptions of all the extant lyrics of Rainey and Smith—published here in their entirety for the first time—Davis demonstrates how the roots of the blues extend beyond a musical tradition to serve as a conciousness-raising vehicle for American social memory. Angela Davis provides the historical, social, and political contexts with which to reinterpret the performances and lyrics of Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday as powerful articulations of an alternative consciousness profoundly at odds with mainstream American culture.The works of Rainey, Smith, and Holiday have been largely misunderstood by critics. A stunning, indispensable contribution to American history, as boldly insightful as the women Davis praises, Blues Legacies and Black Feminism is a triumph.. Overlooked, Davis
Angela Y. Blues Legacies and Black Feminism places the fluid sexuality of these women within a larger context of African American artists' attempts to subvert and recreate America. Davis's study emphasizes the impact that these singers, and later Billie Holiday, had on the poor and working-class communities from which they came. The female blues singers of the 1920s, Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, and Bessie Smith, not only invented a musical genre, but they also became models of how African American women could become economically independent in a culture that had not previou