Rhiannon Giddens Instagram – Feb 21
Black Banjo Renaissance #10
Well…Me, I guess. It’s my birthday.
I guess I will use today’s post to highlight some of the work I’ve done to tell the history of the banjo. I don’t know why this mission has been so obsessive for me – ever since playing with Joe Thompson I have wanted to do my part to tell the true history of America’s music. It’s all I eat, drink and breathe (along with yarn lol) that it gets to be a bit much sometimes! There are so many of us on this journey – and the knowledge being constantly discovered details, redefines, reframes and sometimes rebuts things that have been said before.
The art of research is scientific – you constantly have to update your theories based on the discoveries by your colleagues. You cannot often truck in absolutes, especially in the history of poor people, who are rarely talked about in document form as much as the rich. Creativity, humility, generosity, and collaboration are needed every minute of every day; we have to check each other with warmth and joy. I’m so lucky to have found my ever-expanding group of folks who are dedicated to finding as much truth as possible. Because the truth sets us free – free from division, free from objectification, free from assimilation, and free from manipulation. Because in the truth we see how similar we really are. And that has always been humans superpower – to see ourselves in each other. The truth is the music of America is cross cultural – we focus on the Black strands at the moment because they have been suppressed for so long. But the backdrop contains multitudes. (con’t) | Posted on 21/Feb/2024 20:22:20
