[MUSIC] The blues. The blues is America's great music. It has shaped our literature, through writers like Alice Walker. And Richard Wright, it shapes the art of artists like Romare Bearden, it shapes classical music it is filled, with a deep understanding of race, of class, and of gender. And, it is the heart, of oral tradition in the black community. There's a verse that says if you're white, all right. If you're brown, stick around. If you're black, get back get back get back. A powerful way of understanding how race, operates in the South and in the nation. There's also a country blues, that says "I'm sitting here all alone. In my, one room country shack. My woman has left me and won't be back." A beautiful, evocative image of loneliness and isolation. And we can also think of Blues radio. The sounds of the Blues, playing at all hours, late at night as well as early in the morning. We can hear Blues on radio, played by colorful DJs, like Poppa Rock. At WROX in Jackson, Mississippi, as he introduces B.B. King. [MUSIC] >> [INAUDIBLE] I know how it feels. When you're hurt, you gotta tell somebody. Someone must understand, how you feel. The only way to do it is to say it loud and clear, make sure that everyone will hear. It's the truth the way it is. That's why I sing the blues. This is B.B. King, making a statement. [MUSIC] A natural fact. [MUSIC] All you gotta do is sit back. [MUSIC] And dig where it's coming from. [MUSIC] Listen. [MUSIC] Not only with your ear but with your heart. [MUSIC] Everybody want to know. [MUSIC] Why I sing the Blues. [MUSIC]