Juke Joints, The Historic Black American Bars Of The Old South

In a time of segregation and widespread racism, juke joints offered a brief refuge for Black sharecroppers and rural workers — and left an unforgettable mark on music history.

Even in the darkest of situations, people have always managed to find some form of solace in community. For the enslaved people of pre- Civil War America, that came in the form of community spaces that were sometimes formed on plantations. Here, they could socialize, eat, and dance together as a brief escape from the cruel conditions forced upon them.

Following the end of slavery , however, freed Black laborers still needed a safe space away from the eyes of the law in the Jim Crow South. Ramshackle cabins, barrelhouses, and shacks sprang up in rural areas as gathering spots that offered music, liquor, dancing,