Blues Legacies and Black Feminism by Angela Davis

by Darshai Hollie

In the early and mid 20th century, blues was popular throughout the U.S. In postslavery, blues gave African Americans a way to express themselves, such as they were suffering hardship in economics, racism, and more, and blues gave them a new sense of freedom, individuality, and emotions that was uncommon. In the reading Blues Legacies, and Black Feminism by Angela Davis, she focused on three prominent blues women singers, Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday made an impact on the black community and the music industry. The reason Davis had written this book was to examine the feminist implication in their music that reflected the black-working class. Their music has a hint of feminism for criticizing the patriarchal society in the U.S. and the black community. Davis argues that Smith, Holiday, and Rainey’s music were feminist in a way that associated with the working-class black women and argued how they were using their music to address the politics of gender, sexuality, race, and class in the 20th century. For the methodology,  Davis used are vinyl recordings of their music critically examine the music through a feminist lens. 

In the first three chapters, Davis discussed the topic that most blues women singers often sang about the reality of love, that was not represented in popular music, and it contradicted the middle-class white women’s viewpoint of love, such as being in love or being married to fulfill the happiness that women in the blues criticized. Furthermore, the main themes that blues women singers talked about are the reality that working-class black women could relate to, such as cheating, domestic violence, being independent, sex, sexuality, jealousy, expressing violence, and having multiple partners; they did not focus on children or marriage. For instance, in Gertrude “Ma” Rainey: “Shave ’Em Dry,” she sings about a woman being in a relationship with a married man. Another example was Bessie Smith’s song, “Yes, Indeed He Do” she sang about a woman being in love with a man who abused her. “Send Me to the ’Lectric Chair” by Bessie Smith sings about getting revenge and killing her lover. Blues gave the realistic experience that many black women had gone through in the 20th century. 

Furthermore, what I found interesting was how Davis talked about black womanhood, particularly the black working-class womanhood, and how it is different from the feminist structure that consists of the middle-class black womanhood. For me, middle-class black womanhood intended to give more details on the sexism and racism that they experienced as black women, and they intended to focus on what is best for the black community, while the working-class black womanhood also focused on having their sexual agency as well as they intended to be individuals through the black women experience, deeply showcasing the personal journey and hardship that Blues singers expressed. As Davis stated, “this model of womanhood was based in part on a collective historical memory of what had been previously required of women to cope with slavery”(95).

Overall, I enjoyed reading these chapters and learning about the blues and the theme that Rainey, Smith, and Holiday talked about in their music. This reading showcased the reliability and the connection that the working-class black women went through in the 20th century.