The Politics of Sex

Angela Davis, Blues, Legacies and Black Feminism

Activist and author, Angela Davis, discusses her book: Blues, Legacies and Black Feminism discusses several key early blues artists including Gertrude “Ma” Rainy, Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday to illustrate how black women helped shape feminist historical traditions and were able to tell stories, particularly about the reality of women’s sexual experience through their music. (Recorded in Santa Monica, CA in 1998)