AFRAM Blog Post 1

Sierra Craig

The first reading I examined was Professor Retman’s “Memphis Minnie’s Scientific Sound” piece. The topic that I found most troubling was the dynamic between white and black blues singers and the differing recognition and legacy-building this dynamic created. Black Americans, including Memphis Minnie, laid the foundation for blues and many other styles of music, yet white singers profited off of and exploited that foundation. A quote that I thought summed this sentiment up well was “Hughes contrasts Minnie’s performance with the unsmiling white men who run the club, ringing up sales on the cash register – men who do not move in time with the music but still profit from the partial/martial inclusion of black people in the wartime economy” (Retman, 98).

The second reading I draw upon is “Notes on Women Who Rock”. Where the previous readings in the week talk about how women and people of color were constantly disempowered and not given a seat at the table, this article talks about how this absence can be resolved by reframing the narrative on this research. One of the quotes that stood out to me was “if you aren’t seeing women, not seeing people of color, that means it’s up to us to document…” (Medusa, 2013). Marginalized groups often have to work harder to get the recognition that they deserve, and this project exemplifies that. What I found particularly intriguing about this reading was the explanation of the project and how it aimed to emphasize intersectionality, like sexuality, race, gender, etc.

In the song “Love is a Wonderful Thing”, originally by the black group, the Isley Brothers, but redone by white artist Michael Bolton, it shows how white artists often receive praise for drawing inspiration from, or directly copying, black work.

Isley Brothers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGAQ5oWuhC8

Michael Bolton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_ezMbv2sr4