Talk:Lead Belly

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Lead Belly article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Archives: 1: 12 months

Biography: Musicians

	Biography portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography
	This article is supported by WikiProject Musicians (assessed as High-importance).
	This article has been marked as needing immediate attention.

Roots music High‑importance

	Music portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Roots music, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of articles relating to roots, folk and traditional folk music on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Roots musicWikipedia:WikiProject Roots musicTemplate:WikiProject Roots musicRoots music
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

United States: Louisiana / Texas Mid‑importance

	United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions. Template Usage Articles Requested! Become a Member Project Talk Alerts United StatesWikipedia:WikiProject United StatesTemplate:WikiProject United StatesUnited States
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.
	Louisiana portal This article is supported by WikiProject Louisiana.
	Texas portal This article is supported by WikiProject Texas (assessed as Mid-importance).

Crime and Criminal Biography Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Crime and Criminal Biography, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Crime and Criminal Biography articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Crime and Criminal BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject Crime and Criminal BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Crime and Criminal BiographyCrime-related
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Association with Blind Lemon Jefferson

It should be mentioned in the article that early in his career Lead Belly worked in partnership with Blind Lemon Jefferson, leading him around. In fact, Lead Belly's artistic beginnings and musical talents on the twelve-string guitar (an instrument that is uniquely associated with him) are somewhat slighted in this article.

Huddie Ledbetter's history was almost entirely wrong, as told by a white racist

Sheila Curran Bernard's book - she is an associate history professor at University at Albany - titled “Bring Judgment Day: Reclaiming Lead Belly’s Truths from Jim Crow’s Lies,” in July of 2024, completely blows away the history written and designed by John Lomax and his son Alan who profited by depicting Huddie Ledbetter as a violent man who grateful manservant after he was "discovered" by Lomax. It also recasts his convictions, and shows who profited from them, in America during Jim Crow era's lies. Criminal justice in post-Reconstruction South was brutal on Black men, Ledbetter included. All of this history needs to be reconsidered and reconstructed, rather than just accepting the long-held version by a man who literally profited from telling it a certain way. 2601:681:8A01:980:5190:FDD:7B8F:6F37 (talk) 09:13, 31 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]