Making Our Own Ecosystem

Abstract: A conversation took place between three generations of Black women in the country music business who are committed to creating and sustaining equitable pathways for country artists, fans, and members of the music business. Their shared dedication to fighting for collective rather than personal struggles is one that echoes other historic civil rights and liberation movements. Their labor and perspectives offer visions for an alternative imagination that emphasizes communal well-being, providing lessons that reach far beyond country music. In a post– Cowboy Carter moment, when mainstream conversations have again been renewed about the past and present Black presence in country music, their joint, multigenerational experiences speak to what has and has not changed in Nashville, the center of the country music industry, over the past several decades, and where hope rests for the future of Black country music.