America250 – “Blues IS Black History – Healing the Broken Memory. We are still African.” Program at the 23rd Annual Juke Joint Festival

Through a series of presentations, conversations and oral histories, we’ll explore the unacknowledged yet enduring presence of African culture in the Mississippi Delta. From the songs of the Mabo’s, Jeli’s, Jali’s or griots of west Africa and early Blues recorded by Alan Lomax to contemporary Southern Soul and new explorations of African influence in films like Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, these conversations trace an epic oral history from before the Middle Passage to today.