Black Sound & the Archive presentsA Two-Day Symposium Beyoncé Makes History:Formidable Black Feminist Sound & Vision in the 21st-Century Exploring the sonic and visual repertoire of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and its evolution. Featuring scholars, journalists, musicians, filmmakers—the collaborators, creatives, and critics who’ve dynamically engaged her work. DAY ONEOpening Keynote EventThursday, April 17th7:00-9:00pmLoria 351, 190 York Street “Making Lemonade”: In Conversation with Kahlil Joseph, principal director of Lemonade (2016)Featuring a director’s cut screening of Lemonade plus rare

Continue readingApril 17–18, 2025: Beyoncé Makes History: Formidable Black Feminist Sound & Vision in the 21st-Century

Friday, February 2811:30am—2:15pmAfro American Cultural Center (211 Park Street) Black Is King dir. by Beyoncé, Emmanuel Adjei, and Blitz BazawuleSpecial Screening and Talkbackwith Tanisha Ford, Michael Veal and Daphne A. Brooks Join the Black Sound and the Archive Working Group for a catered lunch screening of Black Is King (2020), Beyoncé’s cinematic celebration of Black diasporic music, visual art, fashion, and culture, a sumptuous odyssey in sound and vision. Friday, February 28th, 11;30am-2:15pm with buffet

Continue readingFebruary 28, 2025: Beyoncé’s “Black is King” with Tanisha Ford, Michael Veal and Daphne A. Brooks

Saturday, February 2211am–2pmAfro American Cultural Center (211 Park Street) Homecoming: A Film by BeyonceSpecial Screening and Talkbackwith Michael Eric Dyson, Aimee Cox, and Daphne A. Brooks Join the Black Sound and the Archive Working Group for a catered brunch screening of Beyonce’s critically-acclaimed Coachella concert film Homecoming (2019), called by The New York Times “one of the greatest” performances of all time. Saturday, February 22nd, 11am-2pm with buffet brunch and post-screening talkback feat. Professor Michael

Continue readingFebruary 22, 2025: Beyoncé’s “Homecoming” with Michael Eric Dyson, Aimee Cox, and Daphne A. Brooks

Saturday, February 8 at 3:00pmDaughters of the Dust (1991) — Special Screening & TalkbackHQ L02 (320 York Street) Join acclaimed filmmaker Julie Dash, celebrated film scholars Jacqueline Stewart and Kara Keeling, and scholar, author, and music critic Daphne A. Brooks for a special post-screening talkback exploring Dash’s iconic 1991 film Daughters of the Dust, a touchstone for Beyoncé’s Lemonade. Light refreshments will be served at 2:30pm. Speaker Bios: Thirty-two years ago, filmmaker Julie Dash broke

Continue readingFebruary 8, 2025: “Daughters of the Dust” with Julie Dash, Jacqueline Stewart, Kara Keeling, and Daphne A. Brooks

Thursday, January 30, 7:00pmLemonade (2016) — Special Screening & TalkbackLoria Hall 351 (190 York Street) Join acclaimed poet, playwright, and MacArthur fellow Claudia Rankine and Professor Daphne A. Brooks for a special post-screening talkback exploring Lemonade, the sixth studio album and second visual album by Bevoncé Knowles-Carter, recently named Rolling Stone’s #1 album of the 21st century. Claudia Rankine is the author of five books of poetry, including Just Us: An American Conversation, Citizen: An

Continue readingJanuary 30, 2025: Beyoncé “Lemonade” Screening & Talkback with Claudia Rankine

Thursday, January 16, 7:00pmBeyoncé (2013) — Special Screening & TalkbackGR 109, Rosenfeld Hall (109 Grove Street) Join the Black Sound and the Archive Working Group for a special screening and talkback exploring Beyoncé, the pathbreaking 5th studio album by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and the first visual album of its kind, with speakers Wesley Morris (’97), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and New York Times critic-at-large, and Professor Daphne A. Brooks. Wesley Morris is critic-at-large for The New York

Continue readingJanuary 16, 2025: “Beyoncé” Screening and Talkback with Wesley Morris and Daphne A. Brooks

Wednesday, April 17t, 5:30 PM:
106 Stoeckel Hall

Daphne A. Brooks, “Rhapsody and Ruin: Porgy and Bess, Cultural Domination and the Story of America”

In this lecture, Daphne A. Brooks, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of African American Studies, American Studies, Women’s Gender & Sexuality Studies and Music, mines the archive in order to trace the legacy 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.

… Continue readingApril 17, 2024: Daphne A. Brooks on “Porgy and Bess”

Wednesday, April 10, 5:30pm
106 Stoeckel Hall

Brian Kane, “The Sound Archive and the Sonic Archive: Robert F. Williams in Cuba and Al Hibbler in Birmingham”

In this lecture/demonstration, Brian Kane, Associate Professor of Music and Affiliated Faculty, Film and Media Studies, will discuss some problems and challenges of historical sound studies by considering the 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.

… Continue readingApril 10, 2024: Brian Kane on Sound Archives, Robert F. Williams, and Al Hibbler