 In this episode, we're going to explore the landscape these black artists navigated and how they made their own lanes in a society that was happy to commodify them and less than enthusiastic about valuing them. We'll hear some hard language, racial slurs that were used at the time by both white and black people, including in the titles and lyrics of popular songs. But our focus is on the artists. We'll meet black performers who, after emancipation, formed their own blackface troops.