Rashida K. Braggs is Associate Professor in Africana Studies and affiliate faculty in American Studies and Comparative Literature at Williams College. Her book Jazz Diasporas: Race, Music and Migration in Post-World War II Paris investigates the migratory experiences of African American jazz musicians in 1946-1963 Paris. In her current manuscript and accompanying performance project “Move Jazz, Black Woman Move,” Dr. Braggs explores how and why black jazz women performers of African descent migrate to, from and between Francophone cities around the world. Her work has also been published in such journals as The James Baldwin Review, Palimpsest: A Journal on Women, Gender, and the Black International, and The Journal of Popular Music. In such courses as “13 Ways of Looking at Jazz,” “Performing Blackness,” and “Black Migrations: African American Performance at Home and Abroad,” Dr. Braggs teaches students to explore how performance conveys values, patterns and negotiations of power in society. As a scholar-performer-writer, Braggs also writes, acts, sings, dances, and performs spoken word.
Scholar | Performer | Writer
