Yale’s Black Sound & the Archive Working Group
Spring 2024 Calendar of Events
Please join us in marking the Spring 2024 return of Yale’s Black Sound & the Archive Working Group (BSAW) with a series of events hosted by co-founders/co-directors Daphne A. Brooks (African American Studies, American Studies, Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies and Music) and Brian Kane (Music)
Learn more about Yale’s Black Sound & the Archive at https://blacksound.yale.edu
Friday, March 29th, 10:30am—12noon, 106 Stoeckel
BSAW Brunch & Research Meeting: grads, postdocs, undergrads, fellow faculty–come with your interests, come with your projects, come with your ideas for programming and come learn more about BSAW resources and future events
Wednesday, April 10th @ 5:30pm, 106 Stoeckel
BSAW Lecture & Post-Talk Reception: “The Sound Archive and the Sonic Archive: Robert F. Williams in Cuba and Al Hibbler in Birmingham.” Brian Kane, Associate Professor of Music, Affiliated Faculty, Film and Media Studies
In this lecture/demonstration, Prof. Kane will discuss some problems and challenges of historical sound studies by drawing a distinction between “the sound archive” and “the sonic archive.” The demonstration will focus on two sound recordings from the 1960s and the struggle for civil rights: a radio broadcast by the activist, Robert F. Williams, and a speech given by the singer Al Hibbler in support of the Birmingham campaign.
Wednesday, April 17th @ 5:30pm, 106 Stoeckel
BSAW lecture & post-talk reception: “Rhapsody & Ruin: Porgy & Bess, Cultural Domination and the Story of America.” Daphne A. Brooks, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of African American Studies, American Studies, Women’s Gender & Sexuality Studies and Music
This lecture mines the archive in order to trace the legacies of racial performance and racial and gender violence made manifest in 1935’s Porgy and Bess. It moves from an exploration of the Heyward and Gershwin archives to a consideration of the genius Black women culture workers who’ve grappled with the opera’s legacy.