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Sep 30, 2024

What Islam Gave the Blues


Sylviane Diouf Cropped

Sylviane A. Diouf

Brown University

Sylviane A. Diouf is a social historian whose research interests include the trans-Atlantic and trans-Indian Ocean slave trades, West African Muslims, and resistance to slavery.

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What Islam Gave the Blues

The blues is neither African nor Islamic—rather, it’s an African American creation shaped by some of the most enduring contributions of West African Muslims to American culture.

“The sight of a man singing solo was undoubtedly less alarming to white people than were large gatherings of people dancing to the drumlike beat of rattles and buckets.” —Sylviane A. Diouf

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