SOLACE, 2024

Description:
"Solace" explores how banjo music served as a coping mechanism for enslaved Blacks, helping them endure the profound pain of slavery, and how it continues to provide comfort in today's world.

The banjo was a primary instrument for plantation musicians and became a symbol of transformation and transition, representing the journey from Africa to the New World and the passage from present suffering to future relief and redemption. The banjo was a powerful symbol for enslaved Africans, vital in transmitting cultural and spiritual memory, lineage, and history (Dubois, 2016). This connection offered them comfort and a surreal sense of survival.

Regrettably, the African origins of the banjo are often unknown to many today, as the instrument has been closely associated with Jim Crow and white supremacist culture since the early 20th century. This association has led some to view it as a symbol of oppression (Black Music Project, 2023).

This situation illustrates how capitalism has utilised systematic exploitation to create racial divisions. Race is central to any discussion about the banjo, as it is essential to the conversation about textiles. We must acknowledge how capitalism exploited the Atlantic slave trade to significantly boost cotton textile production, which now plays a critical role in the environmental crisis.