Dwandalyn Reece, the visionary curator behind the “Musical Crossroads” exhibit and musical programs at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, brings the story of Black music to VCU as VCU Libraries’ 2023 Black History Month speaker.

Music is the great equalizer around the world. No matter where it originates or what form it takes, it has played a crucial role shaping the human experience and preserving the history of that experience for centuries.

African American music grew from a heritage shaped by the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The music born out of this shared identity was a means of survival, a treatise on the struggle for freedom and an agent of social change; it generated a vast array of musical styles and performance traditions that have defined American music.

Reece’s remarks are drawn in part from her 2023 book, Musical Crossroads Stories Behind the Objects of African American Music, that explores the meaning underlying the objects on display at the Smithsonian. She will explain how these objects expand our understanding of the culture of African American music making.

Reece’s lecture is free and open to the public, though registration is required.