When we think of rock n' roll, we may not initially think of the pioneering Black women who blazed the first trails that established what we know of today as the iconic music of the 1950's on through the 1970's. Yet, there is no question that such rock legends like Big Momma Thornton and Etta James and epic rock groups like The Shirelles and Labelle laid the bedrock for what is arguably the most American genre of music despite not profiting from the music industry like many of their white counterparts. Dr. Maureen Mahon joins Dr. Mark Anthony Neal as they discuss her latest publication from Duke University Press, "Black Diamond Queens: African American Women and Rock and Roll."

Find her latest publication here: https://www.dukeupress.edu/black-diamond-queens

Follow Prof. Maureen Mahon here: https://www.maureenmahonbooks.com/

Left of Black is a web series featuring interviews with Black Studies scholars created and hosted by James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of African and African American Studies Mark Anthony Neal and produced by the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke University.

Produced and directed by Eric Barstow