# Black Banjo Renaissance: Rhiannon Giddens & Allie Martin in Conversation

On July 21, 2026, the American Folklife Center hosted “Black Banjo Renaissance: Reflections on the Future,” a symposium co-organized with Joe Z. Johnson. The event brought together musicians, scholars, and banjo makers involved in the Black Banjo Renaissance, a movement to reclaim and sustain the legacies of African American banjo players. This session features a conversation between musician Rhiannon Giddens and ethnomusicologist Dr. Allie Martin. Giddens is a musician, singer, and composer who has championed the African American roots of the banjo for over twenty years. A two-time GRAMMY winner, MacArthur “Genius” grant recipient, and Pulitzer Prize winner, Giddens has composed for opera, ballet, and film, and centers her work on lifting up contributors to American musical history who have long been overlooked or erased. Dr. Martin is an Assistant Professor at Dartmouth College, whose research focuses on race, sound, and power.

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2026
- Runtime: 1 h 16 min
- By: Martin, Dr. Allie
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/video-12492/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/video-12492?play=1)