Soyica Diggs Colbert Writes the History of Icons Through Their Friendships

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In her new book, Freedom’s Gate, Soyica Diggs Colbert focuses on the young adult friendships of five Black woman artists—Maya Angelou, Lorraine Hansberry, Abbey Lincoln, Miriam Makeba, and Nina Simone—and the New York nightclub that offered them a performance venue, a platform, and a place to connect with their friends. It’s a group biography that explores the importance of friendship in developing the women we now remember as iconic Black artists and Civil Rights activists.

Listen to the episode to learn:

• Why her biography of Lorraine Hansberry led to a group biography
• How she prioritizes writing even with a busy schedule as an administrator
• Why keeping up on new music and plays is crucial to Soyica’s process
• The role of timelines in crafting the narrative
• Her approach to translating music and performance to the page
• How she focused on the texture and uncertainty of these young women and their friendships, before they became icons

ABOUT THE GUEST

Soyica Diggs Colbert is the Idol Family at Georgetown University. She is a recipient of the Guggenheim fellowship and the author of the award-winning book, Radical Vision: A Biography of Lorraine Hansberry and the new book Freedom's Gate. She has also held Colbert’s writing has been featured in the The New York Times, Washington Post, Public Books and American Theatre. She has been interviewed on NPR and commented for the New York Times, USA Today, CNN, and the Washington Post. She was an Associate Director at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. and served as a Creative Content Producer for The Public Theatre’s audio play, shadow/land. Her research interests span the 19th-21st centuries, from Harriet Tubman to Beyoncé, and from poetics to performance.

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Soyica Diggs Colbert, Freedom’s Gate: Maya Angelou, Lorraine Hansberry, Abbey Lincoln, Miriam Makeba, and Nina Simone Live at the New York Nightclub that Shaped the Civil Rights Movement
• Soyica Diggs Colbert, Radical Vision: A Biography of Lorraine Hansberry
• Soyica’s playlist for Freedom’s Gate on Youtube, Apple Music, Spotify, 66:204735664309160464?part=ug-mobile&corr=20471999&_branch_match_id=1143994205176786331&utm_source=User%20Shared&utm_medium=playlist&_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXL0jMS8kvStRLLCjQy8nMy9Yvd8vwDs5OMYg0SbKvK0pNSy0qysxLj08qyi8vTi2ydc4oys9NBQDaEUlXPgAAAA%3D%3D">Pandora
• Maggie Doherty, The Equivalents: A Story of Art, Female Friendship, and Liberation in the 1960s
• Jonathan Eig, King: A Life
• Jesmyn Ward, On Witness and Repair: Essays
• Hanif Abdurraqib, A Little Devil in America: In Praise of Black Performance
• Dana A. Williams, Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer’s Legendary Editorship