Rebel Music: How Women of Color Changed the “Beat” featured at the Joliet Area Historical Museum
Rebel Music: How Women of Color Changed the Beat” is more than a ‘passion project’ to its creator and Romeoville local Vici (pronounced Vee-She) Howard, it’s an effort to set the record straight and give credit to the women who created many of the musical trends that have been credited to others and who have been largely forgotten.
Rebel Music” is the new exhibit celebrating women of color in music at the Joliet Area Historical Museum 204 N. Ottawa Street in downtown Joliet through March 21.
The exhibition highlights women who challenged norms and created lasting cultural change and whose artistry and resistance reshaped musical history.
“Rebel Music is about giving credit where culture forgot to look,” said Vici Howard, Executive Director of Black & Brown Femme Films the exhibit’s guest curator and presenter. “These artists didn’t just influence genres — they shaped movements.”
The exhibition invites audiences to experience it in an entirely different way. There are not only video and audio recordings of the exhibit subjects, but there are also stops along the way where visitors can interact and leave their personal stamp on the proceedings.
One of the most important aspects of Rebel Music is that it dispels a lot of preconceived notions about the true creators of our most popular music forms.
Hound Dog was Elvis Presley’s first major hit and put Rock N’ Roll on the map. Few know that it was popularized by a black woman named Big Momma Thornton.
“We love Big Momma Thornton, the Queen of Rock. We were able to find an actual recorded interview of her. She talked about (the song) Hound Dog, and people don’t know that she only got $500 to sing that song. We all know about Elvis Presley. We all know the history!”
Hound Dog” was originally recorded by American blues singer Big Mama Thornton on August 13, 1952, and released in early 1953. Written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, her version was a major hit, topping the R&B charts for seven weeks, years before Elvis Presley’s famous 1956 cover.
Rebel Music starts with a nod to the importance of The Church to Black Music.
“We definitely wanted to pay homage to The Church. So many of our great Black artists got their start there. We have pictures of the choirs, some tambourines and pictures of many of the famous artists that people will recognize.
“We have Aretha at the top of the chart. In the hierarchy we see Patty and Jennifer and Fantasia and, of course, Whitney.”
Black women spanned the musical spectrum in making significant contributions.
“We have the ‘Godmother of Rock,’ who is Sister Rosetta Tharpe. We also have the little known ‘Godmother’ of Grunge Music, Tina Bell. A lot of people don’t know that a Black woman pioneered Grunge Music.”
Many people consider the late Kurt Cobain the creator of the music known as Grunge. ” Kurt Cobain and Nirvana get the credit for that, but Kurt Cobain was her ‘roadie.’ He carried her guitar on stage for her!”
Unfortunately, both died very tragic deaths. Bell’s, having occurred much earlier, passed with barely a mention.
Not everything focuses on tragic losses. There’s fun to be had as well.
“This is a part of the exhibit that we call “Banned Music, ” Vici said while standing in front of a drawing board. “We invite people to put up the names of songs that they were not allowed to listen to when you were growing up. They are free to write down the names of songs and music that were banned inside their homes.”
There’s literally something for everyone to enjoy and appreciate and learn from at the Rebel Music exhibit. It’s especially important because it occurs during Women’s History Month. For more visit bbffilms.org or Joliet museum.org.
