In this musical short, we’ll celebrate Juneteenth by exploring liberation through music! We’ll journey around the U.S, taking a look at the lives of Black composers from three different time periods. We’ll briefly cover the history of the Juneteenth holiday, and through the lives of Florence Price, Scott Joplin, and Rhiannon Giddens, we’ll investigate how the African musical tradition continues to influence American music. Additional resources at musicboxpod.org.

This episode was written by Kiana Del and Fiona Palensky. Special thanks to Michelle Tyrene Johnson and Stori Crawford.

Support for the Music Box comes from PNC, the Norton Foundation, and the sustaining members of Louisville Public Media.