Collected – Details, episodes & analysis

How do we understand the work of Beyoncé? While she is one of the most well-known and appreciated Black women in music today, to understand her work, you need to see who came before her and what those women contributed to the story of Black women on stage. In this opening episode of the season, we take a look at the web of Black women in music and introduce the core themes of the season to our listeners, including innovation, labor, impact, and legacy. We also introduce the women profiled over the next four episodes and discuss why they were chosen (and why not others). 

Find more information at s.si.edu/collected. 

Daphne A. Brooks, PhD., is professor of African American Studies and Music at Yale University. Dr. Brooks most recent books is Liner Notes for the Revolution: The Intellectual Life of Black Feminist Sound (Harvard University, February 2021). https://afamstudies.yale.edu/people/daphne-brooks  

Margo Jefferson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, and a 2022 recipient of the Windham-Campbell Prize for Nonfiction. Her most recent book is Constructing a Nervous System: a memoir (2022). She is a professor of Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University. https://arts.columbia.edu/profiles/margo-jefferson  

Crystal M.  Moten, Ph.D., is a historian who specializes in twentieth century African American Women’s History. In 2023 she published Continually Working: Black Women, Community Intellectualism, and Economic Justice in Postwar Milwaukee. She is the Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the Obama Presidential Center Museum in Chicago, Illinois and was previously curator at Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History  https://www.crystalmoten.com/  

Dwandalyn R. Reece, Ph.D. is curator of Music and Performing Arts at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and curated the museum’s permanent exhibition, Musical Crossroads, for which she received the Secretary’s Research Prize in 2017.   https://music.si.edu/dr-dwandalyn-reece    

Fath Davis Ruffins was a Curator of African American History at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (NMAH). She began working at the museum in 1981, and between 1988 and 2005, she was the head of the Collection of Advertising History at the NMAH Archives Center. Ruffins was the original project director of Many Voices, One Nation, an exhibition that opened at NMAH in June 2017.  She was leading a museum project on the history and culture of the Low Country region of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. https://profiles.si.edu/display/nruffinsf1102006  

Craig Seymour is a writer, photographer, and critic who has written about music, particularly Black music for over two decades.  His most recent book is Luther: The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross (HarperCollins, 2004).   https://randbeing.com/

Black women have dominated the mainstream stages of American Popular music for almost a century. How can we understand the labor, spirit, and genius that got them there? Building on the exploration of contemporary Black feminist history in Season One, Season Two of the Collected podcast looks again at the brilliant work of African American women, this time through the lens of Black Female musical artists. Over this season’s six episodes, audiences will learn about several core figures spanning genres such as jazz, rock, spirituals, and disco to look at how Black female artists fought their way to the big stages and survived once they arrived there. Curator of Music Dr. Krystal Klingenberg resumes her role as host and producer, taking listeners on a rich musical journey through the lives of women you know, but stories you may not.   

We’ve now seen where the framework of Black Feminism has come from, but where is it headed? In this episode, Crystal and Krystal talk about how Black feminist thinkers, practitioners, and organizers understand the present and future of Black feminism. In discussion with guests Paris Hatcher, Barbara Smith, Dr. Brittney Cooper, Raquel Willis, Dr. Duchess Harris, Charlene Carruthers, Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs, and Feminista Jones, we review what topics are of concern to Black feminists today and how Black women may organize for change going forward.

Find more information at s.si.edu/collected. 

What is intersectionality and how does it help us understand the way oppression works in society? In this episode, Crystal and Krystal discuss the concept of intersectionality as defined by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw and the longer history of its usage. Guests Raquel Willis, Barbara Smith, and Dr. Duchess Harris help enrich our understanding of where the concept came from and the way it has evolved over time.

Find more information at s.si.edu/collected. 

In tough times we all need to be sure to take care of ourselves, but when it comes to Black Feminism, what is the meaning of self-care? In this episode, we discuss the term self-care in the context of the work of writer and activist Audre Lorde and the way it gets repurposed to mean self-pampering. Guests Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Feminista Jones, Dr. Courtney Marshall, Paris Hatcher, Charlene Carruthers, Dr. Brittney Cooper, and Raquel Willis reveal the political importance of self-care to Black feminists and its connection to community care. And Crystal and Krystal discuss the meaning of self-care in their own lives. Find more information at s.si.edu/collected.

What is “identity politics” and where does this term come from? In this episode, Crystal and Krystal go deeper into the work of the Combahee River Collective and examine its impactful 1977 statement outlining the key elements of Black feminist thought. We hear more from Black Feminism foremother Barbara Smith on how the statement was written and guests Drs. Brittney Cooper, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, and Duchess Harris on the meaning of identity politics as the Combahee River Collective articulated it. Find more information at s.si.edu/collected.

What is a collective and how is that type of group important to Black feminist organizing? In this episode, Crystal and Krystal discuss the meaning of the term “collective” and hear from Black feminist luminary Barbara Smith about the history she and others made with formation of the landmark Combahee River Collective. Guests Dr. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Feminista Jones, Dr. Brittney Cooper, Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs, and Dr. Courtney Marshall help us understand the power of collectivity and the legacy of Combahee.

Find more information at s.si.edu/collected. 

What is Black Feminism? Co-hosts Dr. Crystal Moten and Dr. Krystal Klingenberg kick off this season of the podcast with a discussion of the multiple definitions of Black Feminism joined by guests Dr. Brittney Cooper, Paris Hatcher, Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs, and Feminista Jones. Outlining the historical context that created this response to the conditions Black women face in society at-large, Crystal and Krystal preview the season’s main topics: self-care, intersectionality, the collective, and identity politics, and address why these concepts need to be reconnected with the writers and contexts of their creation. Find more information at s.si.edu/collected.

Collected is a project of the African American History Curatorial Collective at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. This podcast offers compelling and accessible journeys through topics in African American history that are particularly relevant today. Season one looks at contemporary Black Feminism.

Ella Fitzgerald “The First Lady of Song” is one of the foremothers of Jazz, known for her crystal-clear voice and the innovation of scat singing. In this episode, we focus on Ella, her contributions to jazz, and the overall American songbook. 

Find more information at s.si.edu/collected. 

Margo Jefferson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and a 2022 recipient of the Windham-Campbell Prize for Nonfiction. Her most recent book is Constructing a Nervous System: a memoir (2022). She is a professor of Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University. https://arts.columbia.edu/profiles/margo-jefferson  

Fath Davis Ruffins was a curator of African American History at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (NMAH). She began working at the museum in 1981, and between 1988 and 2005, she was the head of the Collection of Advertising History at the NMAH Archives Center. Ruffins was the original project director of Many Voices, One Nation, an exhibition that opened at NMAH in June 2017. She was leading a museum project on the history and culture of the Low Country region of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida.   https://profiles.si.edu/display/nruffinsf1102006  

Judith Tick, PhD is the Matthews Distinguished University Professor Emerita of Music History at Northeastern University in Boston. Tick is a leading scholar of the study of gender and women’s history in music. Her most recent book is the 2023 biography Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: the Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song.