Jubilation! Listening Room Series Explores the Sacred Journey of African Music and Its Enduring Influence on American Sound

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November Program Examines the Blues as a Musical Language of Freedom, Resilience and Survival

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Kentucky Center for African American Heritage invites the community to continue exploring the rich musical traditions of the African Diaspora through the Jubilation! Listening Room Series: Tracing the Sacred Journey of African Music, a dynamic series of conversations, guided listening experiences, historical storytelling, and cultural exploration, presented in conjunction with the national exhibition Jubilation! Ambassadors on a Sacred Journey.

The next program in the series, “Nobody Knows My Trouble: The Blues and the Journey Toward Freedom,” will be presented on Saturday, November 14, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. at the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage, 1701 West Muhammad Ali Blvd.

Facilitated by Michael Jones, the session explores the emergence of the Blues after Emancipation and its role in expressing everyday realities. Participants will examine how Blues artists transformed personal stories of hardship, aspiration, labor, injustice, humor, and resilience into a universal musical language that continues to shape American culture today.

The Listening Room Series traces the evolution of African musical traditions from their African origins through Spirituals, Gospel, Blues, Jazz, Rhythm & Blues, Soul, Funk, and Hip Hop. Through archival recordings, guided discussion, live demonstrations, and community engagement, participants will discover how music has served as a source of worship, resistance, healing, education, celebration, and cultural preservation across generations.

“The story of African American music is one of perseverance, creativity, faith, and cultural continuity,” said Aukram Burton, Executive Director of the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage. “This Listening Room Series offers an opportunity to explore how generations of artists have carried forward ancestral traditions while creating some of the world’s most influential music.”

The Listening Room Series complements Jubilation! Ambassadors on a Sacred Journey, the nationally acclaimed traveling exhibition celebrating the legacy of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Organized by students at Fisk University in 1871, the Fisk Jubilee Singers used music to raise funds for their struggling university and introduced audiences around the world to the power and beauty of African American Spirituals. Their performances preserved a vital cultural tradition and laid a foundation for generations of American music.

Created by the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) in partnership with Fisk University, the exhibition features immersive audiovisual experiences, archival recordings, and historical narratives that highlight the origins and lasting influence of the Fisk Jubilee Singers and the Spiritual tradition that shaped American music.

Upcoming Listening Room programs include:

  • December 5, 2026 – Improvising Freedom: Jazz and the African American Imagination with Gary Falk
  • January 9, 2027 – Love, Liberation, and the Groove: Rhythm & Blues, Soul, and Funk with Dr. Kevin O. Davenport
  • January 23, 2027 – The Beat Goes On: Hip Hop, The New Griot Tradition with Jecorey Arthur

All Listening Room events are free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Registration is encouraged through the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage (kcaah.org).

About Jubilation! Ambassadors on a Sacred Journey
Jubilation! Ambassadors on a Sacred Journey celebrates the extraordinary legacy of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, whose performances of African American Spirituals helped preserve a uniquely American musical tradition and advanced educational opportunities for future generations. The exhibition is on display at the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage from September 18, 2026, through February 28, 2027.

About the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage
The Kentucky Center for African American Heritage is a 68,000-square-foot cultural campus dedicated to preserving, interpreting, and celebrating African American history, heritage, and cultural contributions in Kentucky and throughout the African Diaspora through exhibitions, educational programming, performances, and community engagement.

Photo/Media Opportunity:
The November 14 Listening Room Series event will feature guided musical exploration, discussion, and audience engagement centered on the enduring influence of Blues music on American culture. Media are invited to attend.  Please announce and/or post on your shows and community calendars.

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KCAAH unveils a portrait of the man behind the name of Louisville’s only HBCU

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Unveiling of the William J. Simmons Portrait

at the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage

The Kentucky Center for African American Heritage (Heritage Center), in partnership with Simmons College of Kentucky, invites the press and public to the unveiling of the William J. Simmons portrait on Monday, June 26, 2023, at 10 a.m. at 1701 West Muhammad Ali Blvd., Louisville, Kentucky. Simmons’ portrait will be a permanent installation joining other life-sized portraits in the Heritage Center’s Brown-Forman Great Hall Gallery, depicting African American leaders in the arts, civil rights, education, innovation, media, military, and sports. 

Dr. Rev. William J. Simmons (June 29, 1849 – October 30, 1890) went from enslavement to becoming Simmons College of Kentucky’s second president from 1880–1890, for whom the school was eventually named. Simmons College was the first school for higher education established for African Americans in Kentucky. The college was the vision of 12 formerly enslaved Africans who were members of the General Association of Baptists within the state. Their tenacity was fueled by their understanding of the importance of education for the sons and daughters who were formerly enslaved. 

Simmons developed multiple programs, including the teacher education program and one of the few Black medical schools at a Black college. Additionally, Simmons produced Kentucky’s first black medical doctor, Artishia Gilbert. In addition, he was a writer, journalist, and educator. In 1886 he became President of the American National Baptist Convention, one of the organizations that would merge to form the National Baptist Convention, USA. He was elected President of the Colored Press Association for his work as editor of the American Baptist, a newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky.

Simmons is best known for his 1887 work, Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive, and Rising. The book compiled brief biographies of one hundred seventy-seven prominent African American men across the United States. Men of Mark was a best seller and the most extensive collection of African American biographies.

Aukram Burton, Executive Director at the Heritage Center, says:

“The time is overdue for Dr. Rev. William J. Simmons’ portrait to be a permanent installation at the Heritage Center to ensure that visitors will learn about Simmons’ accomplishments as a transformational leader who built a rigorous and inclusive learning environment that promoted academic excellence during an era that denied African Americans the liberties they should have enjoyed as U.S. citizens.

Media inquiries: VIPP Communications at info at vippcommunications dot com or by calling KCAAH at 502-583-4100.

The VIPP Report: The first African American secretary for the Smithsonian visits KCAAH in Louisville

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By Sherlene M. Shanklin

On September 25th at the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage they hosted An Extraordinary Evening with Dr. Lonnie Bunch.

Dr. Bunch is the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute.  That consists of 19 museums, nine research centers and the National Zoo.  He was previously the founding director of the National Museum of African American History.

The Heritage Center is located a 1701 W. Muhammad Ali Boulevard in Louisville, Ky.

See link for my WHAS11.com photo gallery Dr. Lonnie Bunch in Louisville, Ky

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