At the turn of the 20th century, African American artists faced a fundamental question: how could they prove their citizenship and claim their place in American culture? Historian and musician David Gilbert traces how the first generation of African American performers to crack Broadway effected this transformation.

Ernest Hogan named himself “the unbleached American.” Bert Williams and George Walker, marketed themselves as "the two real coons." Bob Cole and the Johnson Brothers transcended the coon genre entirely by writing sophisticated pop songs for white Broadway stars and crafting songs about Black romance that weren't sung for laughs.

Yet Gilbert confronts an uncomfortable truth: this topic is embarrassing, and most Americans would prefer to forget this era entirely. These artists walked an impossible line, and understanding their journey means confronting not just the ugliness of Jim Crow America but the echoes that still reverberate today.

Music

“Darktown is Out Tonight” - Will Marrion Cook
“Overture to ‘In Dahomey’” - Will Marrion Cook
“Under the Bamboo Tree” - Robert Cole and J. Rosamund Johnson
“You've Been A Good Old Wagon” - Ben Harney, Len Spencer
“You’ve Been A Good Old Wagon” - Ben Harney, Bessie Smith

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In 1896, Ernest Hogan's "All Coons Look Alike to Me" became the first song to sell a million copies in America, making him a star and setting off the "coon song craze"—an era in which African American performers and composers achieved unprecedented professional success while trafficking in the very stereotypes designed to undermine their citizenship. David Gilbert, a historian and musician, traces how coon songs emerged at the intersection of ragtime's rhythmic innovations and post-Reconstruction racial anxieties.

At its core, this is a story about the impossible bargains that Black artists had to make in an era of virulent racism—some of them achieving wealth, respect, and cultural influence by mastering the very forms designed to humiliate them, and finding within those constraints the seeds of a creative revolution that would eventually transform Broadway and American popular culture.

Music

“All Coons Look Alike To Me” – Kylan / ragtimerev
“Bully of the Town” – Holy Modal Rounders
“La Pas La Ma” – Kylan / ragtimerev
“On Emancipation Day” – William Brown
“Save Your Money ‘cause the Winter Am Coming On” – Clarice Vance

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This episode explores the life and legacy of actor John Garfield (born Julius Garfinkel), focusing on how his Jewish roots shaped his identity, artistic choices, and political stance. Journalist Robert Nott, author of He Ran All the Way: The Life of John Garfield, recounts Garfield’s upbringing on New York’s Lower East Side, among Jewish immigrant poverty, and strict religious expectations. Rejecting his Orthodox father’s path, Garfield turned to acting, eventually joining the leftist Group Theater—a hub of Jewish-American creativity and political activism.

Garfield’s performances in the play Golden Boy and the movies Body and Soul, and Gentleman’s Agreement reflect recurring themes: the immigrant struggle, the lure of the American Dream, and resistance to systemic injustice. Body and Soul—produced independently—blended his real-life experiences with a fictional reworking of the biography of the famous Jewish boxer Barney Ross. Despite facing the Hollywood blacklist and pressure from HUAC during the Red Scare, Garfield refused to name names, an act of integrity that prematurely ended his acting career and possibly his life (he died at the age of 39) but one that was rooted in his cultural and moral upbringing.

Garfield, though not religiously observant, remained culturally Jewish, embodying a complex, deeply American Jewish identity in both life and art.

Host Info
Hosted by Dr. Robert Philipson
Robert is a former professor of African-American studies with a passion for jazz and art. A published author and Harlem Renaissance historian, he has produced multiple films about the intersectionality of race, music, and sexuality.

Guest Info
Robert Nott, Author, “He Ran All the Way: The Life of John Garfield (2003)”
Robert Nott is an arts and entertainment writer for The Santa Fe New Mexican

Resources

Books
Nott, Robert. He Ran All the Way: The Life of John Garfield.

Plays and Movies

Odets, Clifford. Waiting for Lefty

Odets, Clifford. Awake and Sing

Odets, Clifford. Golden Boy.

20th Century Fox, Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

Hollywood Backstories: Gentlemen’s Agreement

Music

“Body and Soul” - Sarah Vaughan

“Happy Days are Here Again” - Barbra Streisand

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In this episode, Dr. Robert Philipson interviews Mona Smith, Canada Lee's biographer, about the rise, political assassination, and virtual erasure of this African American hero. From 1934 to 1951, Canada Lee was the most famous and revered Black actor of his day, associated -- and frequently starring -- with every landmark African American Broadway production. He broke barriers again and again by being cast in non-Black productions. Despite this, Canada Lee is virtually unknown. They discuss how his early death at the age of 45 is tied to the blacklist of the postwar Red Scare which also buried his achievements.

Host Info
Hosted by Dr. Robert Philipson
Robert is a former professor of African-American studies with a passion for jazz and art. A published author and Harlem Renaissance historian, he has produced multiple films about the intersectionality of race, music, and sexuality.

Guest Info
Mona Smith
Mona Smith is the author of Becoming Something: The Story of Canada Lee. She is a playwright, screenwriter, and former newspaper reporter. She is also a consultant to nonprofits and teaches theater and writing.

Music

“I Can’t Breathe” - H.E.R

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In this episode of Shoga Speaks, Dr. Robert Philipson interviews author Doug Century about his biography Barney Ross: The Life of a Jewish Fighter, exploring the extraordinary life of Barney Ross—a Jewish boxing champion, World War II hero, and outspoken recovering addict. Born Dov-Ber Rosofsky in an Orthodox household, Ross rose from Chicago’s Jewish ghetto to become a national sports icon in the 1930s, defeating opponents in matches that symbolized resistance amid the rise of Nazi Germany. Century traces Ross’s evolution from the ring to the battlefield at Guadalcanal, where he became a decorated Marine, and later to his public struggle with heroin addiction and advocacy for drug policy reform. The episode also touches on Ross’s Hollywood ties, failed biopic, covert support for Israel’s founding, and his fading place in Jewish American memory—offering a rich portrait of resilience, identity, and legacy.

Host Info
Hosted by Dr. Robert Philipson
Robert is a former professor of African-American studies with a passion for jazz and art. A published author and Harlem Renaissance historian, he has produced multiple films about the intersectionality of race, music, and sexuality.

Guest Info
Doug Century
Doug Century is a journalist and the author of Barney Ross: The Life of a Jewish Fighter. douglascentury.com

Music

“Echoes of Sinai” - WAYA & Cafe De Anatolia

“There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight” - Bessie Smith

“Boogie Boogie Bugle Boy” - The Andrews Sisters

“You’se a Viper” - Stuff Smith & His Onyx Club Boys

“Hooray for Hollywood” - Johnny Mercer, Dick Powell, Frances Langford, Johnny Davis, Gene Krupa

“Kaddish” - Rachel Hyman

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This episode of Shoga Speaks dives into the life and legacy of legendary blues singer Alberta Hunter through a rich conversation with playwright and activist Jewelle Gomez, whose play Leaving the Blues reimagines Hunter’s journey as a closeted Black lesbian performer in early 20th-century America. Host Dr. Robert Philipson and Gomez explore Hunter’s fierce independence, prolific songwriting, civil rights activism, and hidden queer identity, contrasting her with peers like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. Drawing from personal memory, historical research, and dramatic invention, Gomez reveals how Hunter’s public poise masked deep private struggles, ultimately portraying her as both musical icon and cultural trailblazer.

Guest Information:
Jewelle Gomez
Playwright, novelist, and activist
Author of Leaving the Blues, part of a trilogy on unsung Black queer figures
Website: jewellegomez.com

Music

My Handy Man - Alberta Hunter

Darktown Strutters' Ball - Alberta Hunter

Down Hearted Blues - Alberta Hunter

Give Me All The Love You Got - Alberta Hunter

Take That Thing Away - Alberta Hunter

Host Info:
Dr. Robert Philipson
Dr. Philipson is a former professor of African-American studies and Harlem Renaissance scholar. He is also a filmmaker with a focus on the intersection of race, sexuality, and music.
Website: Shogafilms.org

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Dave Drexler of the San Diego's Jazz88.3 FM conducted an interview with Dr. Robert Philipson when his documentary, "Body and Soul: An American Bridge" was selected as the closing night offering of the San Diego Jewish Film Festival and was watched by over 1000 people. Philipson discusses the composition of the song "Body and Soul" by Jewish composer Johnny Green in 1930. He then uses the early performance history of this most-recorded of jazz standards to unfold the various aspects of Black-Jewish interrelations in popular music. As in the film, the contributions of Libby Holman, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson are examined in some detail. Drexler ends the interview by asking Dr. Philipson about the film's reception and what challenges he faced in its making.

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In 2019, the Netflix adaptation of the August Wilson play, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, spread her fame to tens of thousands of Americans. The film starred Viola Davis as the bisexual blues diva and enshrined Chadwick Boseman's final performance before his untimely death to cancer.

In a blog post I wrote about the film at the time, I prophesied that Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman would be nominated for numerous acting awards, that kudos would flood to all involved but that there would be little discussion of the complexities of Ma's sexuality."

Our new Shoga Speaks podcast, "Our Queer Feminist Take on Netflix's Ma Rainey," finally gives this neglected aspect a full and fascinating airing. Dr. Philipson dialogues with Natasha Johnson, a Black queer activist currently crusading against female genital mutilation, about the source of Ma Rainey's power, the complex and nuanced depiction of her relationship with her girl-toy Dussie Mae, and the inspiration that Natasha herself takes from this early and at-that-time (1984) unique depiction of a Black queer woman fully in control of her world.

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