Jane Sapp is a nationally admired cultural worker, musician, educator, folklorist, and activist whose approach to social transformation is rooted in the African American musical, cultural, spiritual and human rights traditions. Through her singing, documenting local culture and stories, song-writing workshops, and other expressive work with diverse communities and youth, Jane actively engages people in creative cultural processes that help them understand and see not only the challenges faced by their communities, but their assets as well.
Over the past five decades, Jane has been one of the central leaders in the practice of cultural work and grassroots education, emphasizing the critical role of arts and culture in struggles for social justice – in Southern communities such as Birmingham, Selma, and Greene County, Alabama; Little Rock, Arkansas; New Orleans, Mississippi, and throughout the Northeast; as well as in organizing centers such as the Highlander Research and Education Center, Penn Community Center, and the Southern Partners Fund. Jane now needs time to reflect on her life’s work and to make her knowledge accessible to communities around the world and to future generations. She is creating an archive to preserve some of her learning and the wisdom of her activism. She has also been approached by communities seeking her mentorship and people who want to learn from her in person, directly.
The Jane Sapp Legacy Project: Preserving, Animating and Extending the Legacy of Jane Wilburn Sapp is envisioned as a 3-year initiative, undertaken from July 2022 through June 2025, with fiscal sponsorship from The Highlander Research and Education Center. It is a multi-part effort to honor, extend, and codify Jane’s eldership--enabling some of her work to be archived, some to be experienced with communities of current activists, and some to amplify the expression of her music both current and past.