Music and entertainment has always been a big part of St. Louis’ history. The blues, jazz and ragtime have all played a role and left their mark here and around the world. Black entertainers had a difficult time in St. Louis during much of the 20th century. Musician’s unions were not welcoming. Venues were limited, forcing some of the area’s best known entertainers to leave the area and find success elsewhere. Josephine Baker and Miles Davis were among them. During the 1960s, during the height of social unrest and change, a group of black musicians, actors, writers, dancers, and artists from other disciplines formed a loosely knit collective called the Black Artists’ Group or BAG. Author Benjamin Looker called it a “seedbed for artistic innovation.” But, the era of social unrest worked against it.  Looker’s book Point From Which Creation Begins chronicles the era. Screenwriter and teacher Malinke Elliott was co-founder of BAG in St. Louis. Musician J.D. Parran was participant in the organization.

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Listen to the episode:

Contributors:

Benjamin Looker, author of Point From Which Creation Begins

Screenwriter and teacher Malinke Elliott, co-founder of BAG in St. Louis

Musician J.D. Parran, BAG participant

Additional information about this episode:

All About Jazz article on Black Artist Group

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About the Project:

With this collection of archived interviews of St. Louis on the Air, we present an oral history of civil rights, the black experience, and race relations in St. Louis from 1847 to 2010.

Additional Resources:

The Beacon's Race Frankly Series:
An on-going community discussion around progress being made on the subject of race in the St. Louis metro area.

Eyes on the Prize:
A documentary from PBS's American Experience

FOCUS St. Louis project: Bridges Across Racial Polarization:
Get to know people whom you might not otherwise meet.

Missouri History Museum exhibit, Race: Are We So Different?
Learn the history of race, the role of science in that history, and the subtle and obtrusive expressions of race and racism in institutions and daily lives.

NAACP:
The nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization.

Southern Poverty Law Center:
A nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society.