In all the hoopla surrounding the 100-year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, there’s been little said about the enormous impact of the disaster on African-Americans and the music they gifted the world: the blues. The absence of race from the dialogue about the Titanic is strange, because over the years I’ve read and heard that its sinking had a huge impact on black people in America. It’s not hard to understand why: the aptly named White Star Line did not allow people of African descent on board, either as guests or employees. Legend even has it that the … Continue reading Richard Rabbit Brown – “Sinking of the Titanic”