This week, we’re pulling back the curtain on American music history—and asking who really gets to define it.

Grammy-winning Blues musician and cultural historian Chris Thomas King drops in to break down why everything we’ve been taught about the origins of the blues is wrong. Because Chris is letting it be known: it didn't start on Mississippi plantations—he's taking us to Congo Square, Creole New Orleans, and Storyville, where he argues the blues was born out of resistance, freedom, and Saturday night defiance. From ancient African instruments to the invention of “jazz” as a sanitizing label, this conversation reclaims the radical roots of Black music—and why they still matter.

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To learn more, find Chris at https://www.christhomasking.com/ and check out his book "The Blues: The Authentic Narrative of My Music and Culture."

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This podcast is brought to you by PushBlack, the nation’s largest non-profit Black media company. You make PushBlack happen with your contributions at BlackHistoryYear.com. Most folks do 5 or 10 bucks a month, but truly, anything helps. Thanks for supporting the work.

With production support from Leslie Taylor-Grover and Brooke Brown, Black History Year is produced by Cydney Smith, Darren Wallace, and Len Webb, who also edits the show. Lilly Workneh is our Executive Producer and Black History Year's host is Darren Wallace.

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