We Ain’t That No Mo’

Chapter two chronicles the ways that Black residents of Clarksdale define, talk about, and "use" the blues. Foster identifies three elements of blues talk—definitions that center personal memories and past experiences, definitions that draw distinctions between who can and cannot sing/live the blues, and definitions that celebrate a shared sense of group belonging. Foster considers the role that these definitions—and the feelings they engender—play in process of racial identity and social boundary making.