Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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For decades, Rhythm and Blues has been written off as a lucky accident born out of sweaty Southern bars. But beneath the music lies a million-dollar economy built by Black entertainers to combat white monopolies and survive the lethal world of Jim Crow.

Sources:
The Chitlin' Circuit: And the Road to Rock 'n' Roll by Preston Lauterbach
Driving While Black by Gretchen Sorin
Blues People by Amiri Baraka

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