Our Queer Feminist Take on "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"

In 2019, the Netflix adaptation of the August Wilson play, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, spread her fame to tens of thousands of Americans. The film starred Viola Davis as the bisexual blues diva and enshrined Chadwick Boseman's final performance before his untimely death to cancer.

In a blog post I wrote about the film at the time, I  prophesied that Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman would be nominated for numerous acting awards, that kudos would flood to all involved but that there would be little discussion of the complexities of Ma's sexuality."

Our new Shoga Speaks podcast, "Our Queer Feminist Take on Netflix's Ma Rainey," finally gives this neglected aspect a full and fascinating airing. Dr. Philipson dialogues with Natasha Johnson, a Black queer activist currently crusading against female genital mutilation, about the source of Ma Rainey's power, the complex and nuanced depiction of her relationship with her girl-toy Dussie Mae, and the inspiration that Natasha herself takes from this early and at-that-time (1984) unique depiction of a Black queer woman fully in control of her world.

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