“Talking Black in America—Performance Traditions” screens Nov. 2 with special guests

Performers use language in new, creative ways—and that usage, in turn, changes the language through that performance. The new documentary film Talking Black in America—Performance Traditions, screening Thursday, Nov. 2 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. in the Hill Library’s Auditorium, gathers the voices of performers, historians and linguists to discuss the meaning, critical importance and profound interdependence of Black language to forms of expression like the blues, spirituals, spoken word, preaching, comedy and hip-hop.

Special guests Dasan Ahanu, the 2023 Piedmont Laureate, and Mary D. Williams, a performer and folklorist, will lead a post-film discussion. The event is free and open to the public; pre-registration is required.

The film is the latest program in the Emmy Award-winning Talking Black in America series, which consists of interrelated documentaries on African American language and culture and their transformative influence on the United States and beyond. This episode reveals how earlier traditions of orality give vitality and deeper significance to contemporary modes of African American performance art, from round dances to the freestyle lyricism of a cypher. African American performance traditions developed in concert with oral dexterity and a creative use of language. Today, those traditions continue to be a robust expression of Black identity and belonging, reflecting the power and resilience of Black American speech. 

A trailer is viewable here.