FWS: Black Music Writing

3.0 credits · Undergraduate

“In those days it was either live with music or die with noise, and we chose rather desperately to live” wrote Ralph Ellison in his 1955 essay “Living with Music.” Like Ellison, in “Black Music Writing: Listening for Revolutions” we will journey through the sonic worlds of influential Black musicians and the writers who endeavor to help us understand their contributions. We’ll learn from Farah Jasmine Griffin’s ephemeral writings on Billie Holiday and Daphne Brooks’ soul stirring considerations of Nina Simone. We’ll also look to cultural critics like New Yorker contributor Doreen St. Felix and New York Times Critic-At-Large Wesley Morris. Black music has long been the soundtrack to revolution and those who hear are the conductors of change.