Historically Speaking: Alice Randall: My Black Country

Join us for a book talk celebrating My Black Country, a recent release by Alice Randall, an award-winning professor, songwriter, and author. Randall offers a lyrical, introspective, and unforgettable account of her past and her search for the first family of Black country music in the work of DeFord Bailey, Lil Hardin, Ray Charles, Charley Pride, and Herb Jeffries who, together, made up a community of Black Americans rising through hard times to create simple beauty, true joy, and sometimes profound eccentricity. My Black Country celebrates of the most American of music genres and the radical joy in realizing the power of Black influence on American culture. Randall will be joined in conversation by NMAAHC’s Steven Lewis, Curator of Music and the Performing Arts, and Kelly Navies, Oral History Museum Specialist. Signed books will be available for purchase courtesy of Smithsonian Enterprises.