On this episode of Jack Dappa Blues I speak with the American Songster Dom Flemons about how Blackface, Minstrelsy and African American Traditional Music morphed into America’s top entertainment industry Launching the careers of many African American musicians and writers we celebrate. In our discussion the true context of what became a stain on the image of Black folk is unpacked.
Dom Flemons is known as “The American Songster” since his repertoire of music covers nearly 100 years of American folklore, ballads, and tunes. Flemons is a music scholar, historian, record collector and a multi-instrumentalist. He was recently nominated for a Grammy from his current album “The Black Cowboy” with Smithsonian Folkways.
The tile for this program may be offensive, but it’s from a Minstrel written and composed by Ernest Hogan, the first African-American entertainer to produce and star in a Broadway show
