The article Blame it on the Blues: Bessie Smith, Gertrude “Ma” Rainy and the Politics of Blues Protest by Angela Davis really stood out to me. Blues originated in African American communities at the end of the 19th century. Blues came out of struggle and oppression, it helped people to express how they were feeling and allowed people to bring awareness to issues that were going on such as racial tension. It evolved from slave song and grew from there, they used it as a way to spread political awareness and draw attention to certain issues. Blues was and sung with a lot of emotion they cried, shouted, screamed and involve themes such as love, power, anger. 

     I found it interesting to see that early on African Americans used this music as a way to express how they were feeling, often telling about their troubles that they experienced in the African American society. They often told about their own personal encounters which is amazing to me. An example that I liked most from this article was Ma Rainey’s “Chain Gang Blues” which talks about a African American women who committed a minor crime who got hung for it. It tells about the experience of the chain gang along with the convict lease system, and shows how black women were still liable. These songs help you to really see and have insight into what struggles and the reality that African Americans faced even after slavery was abolished and maybe even helped people who were going through the same thing relate to it. 

     Blues as a result shows how powerful music can actually be. But blues isn't always just depressing and sad sometimes they bring in humorous elements into it, but still manage to portray that they are serious about the topic they are singing about, which I thought was a good to point out because I feel that most people don't think of blues as being anything but sad and in a sense serious. People were able to express themselves, relate to each other, tell their own story and even protest through this music. It gave African Americans a chance to have a voice and express how they were feeling in a time where they had little say and as a result we will now always be able to remember the struggles and oppression that they faced each and every day even after they escaped slavery.