Stax Music Academy 2023 Black History Month Production

Stax Music Academy 2023 Black History Month Production, "Soul of America: The Evolution of Soulsville," will be available to stream globally on February 3rd. All who RSVP through this event page will receive an email with the private streaming link once it is live.

Our 2023 Black History Month virtual film, "Soul of America: The Evolution of Soulsville", is a collaboration from the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and Stax Music Academy. It will debut globally at no charge to viewers on Friday, February 3rd, 2023. The film focuses on youth efforts to revitalize the South Memphis neighborhood known as Soulsville USA, where Stax Records was located and where the Stax Museum and Stax Music Academy are located today. The 2023 debut year also celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. The film features the music of Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, The Bar-Kays, Rufus Thomas, Sam & Dave, Johnnie Taylor, and numerous others. Stax Music Academy students have filmed videos at historic locations in Memphis, TN, such as Beale Street, the Stax Museum, the National Civil Rights Museum, and the historic Metropolitan Baptist Church in the heart of Soulsville USA.

The virtual Black History Month presentation is an idea rooted in the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Soulsville Foundation switched from in-person performances to virtual content and marketed the museum’s and the academy’s films specifically to students, schools, educators, and other youth organizations around the world at no charge. In 2021 and 2022, more than 200,000 people from every state and numerous foreign countries viewed the films, and learned more about Stax Records, the Memphis Sound, soul music, and the evolution of Black music through carefully written and choreographed videos and our accompanying elementary, middle, and high school study guides.

EDUCATORS:

Register as an educator and you will receive links to our companion study and teacher guides during January of 2023.

Register as an educator and you will receive links to our companion study and teacher guides during January of 2023 to help you prepare your students in advance. These guides are created to empower youth to explore their creative agency, identify and recognize their values, and determine the way(s) in which they will choose to be of service to their communities.

Our hope is that this collection of activities will provide socio- cultural context to the experience of Stax Music Academy's Black History Month Production, "Soul of America: The Evolution of Soulsville," that your students will view on February 3rd, 2023. Our ultimate desire is for students to connect with the power of community and the rich musical history of Stax Records and be inspired to create art that is relevant to their current experience.

Thank you to our sponsors!