Reclaiming History Our Native Daughters

In January 2018, four renowned female musicians collaborated on a groundbreaking and deeply personal album for Smithsonian Folkways called "Songs of Our Native Daughters." The concept: to revisit and reclaim slave narratives and minstrelsy from centuries ago and share African-American women's stories of struggle from a modern, Black female perspective. From the secluded Louisiana bayou recording studio to concert halls in New York and D.C., we detail the creation and celebration of music that is both heartbreaking and hopeful.