(ThyBlackMan.com) As the undisputed “Empress of the Blues,” Bessie Smith’s voice is a cornerstone of American music history. Her raw emotion, unwavering strength, and uncompromising style helped shape ...

Bessie Smith, Empress of the Blues, was the first African American superstar, an artist that mingled regal dignity with sensuality. We’ll sample her recorded legacy, talk with critics and hear ...

The Bessie Smith Cultural Center will present a full month of events this June celebrating African American history, culture and music. "From honoring Negro League baseball legends to uplifting ...

“I wrung my hands and I wanted to scream / But when I woke up I found it was only a dream.” There she stood at Columbia’s studio in New York to record this song in September 1923. She and pianist ...

The four-time Emmy-award winning HBO film Bessie, directed by Dee Rees, depicts the life and times of songstress Bessie Smith, a.k.a., the Empress of the Blues. Starring Queen Latifah as the openly ...

Black spirituals are the religious folksongs created by enslaved Africans here in the South over generations before the Civil ...