Blues Expressions

Life for African-Americans in the United States has been one of oppression and obstacles. Blues music, a traditional expression of the African-American diaspora, was born from similar experiences of oppression and obstacles. The music spoke in a vaguely coded language not only about the realities of the social tyranny the black population has experienced in America, but also ways in which to cope and overcome the barriers presented in various degrees imposed by persecutors. Blues was a cultural representation as both an art form and a way of life.

Blues and Bronzeville were connected in innumerable ways beyond points of African-American cultural representations. The underlying feelings and outward manifestation of these places (neighborhoods, etc.) were often very similar as well. The struggles that American blacks have endured for the past two centuries are more complex and significant than any form of entertainment, but when that entertainment is directly embedded within the effected people, its importance becomes rooted in the struggles themselves.