The Black Banjo Reclamation Project
African-American Luthiership of the Banjo
The Black Banjo Reclamation Project is a vehicle to return instruments of African origin to the descendants of their original makers. Our theory of change is tied directly to re-appropriating our own culture by receiving banjos in the form of reparations and over time, gaining skills that will advance individuals and communities for generations to come. This includes ancestral survival and land based skills including fostering the trade of instrument building and repair. We are pursuing ancestral healing and envision a world where the act of remembering gives us the power to shape our world.
Living Cultures
2024
Banjo Building Cultural Initiative in Oakland California
The grant will aid in producing a community engagement initiative that will happen over the course of one week in Oakland. An inter -generational, strategic cultural learning experience to advance cultural ties to Black music, craft and land-based traditional practices related to the banjo and the Black String-Band Tradition.
