Is this thread about whether there are any black people on Mudcat? If so, I believe Amos answered the question! Or is it about black people in what is perceived as the mostly white folk scene of North America and the British/Celtic Isles? If it is about the latter, then let me report that there are quite a few black folkies here in the good old USA. Let me name just a few that I have actually seen and heard in person over the past five years: Sweet Honey in the Rock, Luci Murphy, Matt Jones, Toshi Reagon, Eric Bibb, Josh White, Jr., Kim and Reggie Harris, Sparky Rucker, Jack Landron (formerly known as Jackie Washington), Randy Harris, Odetta, Len Chandler, and -- he came out of "folk retirement" for one concert in 1997 -- Julius Lester. This list doesn't include the many lesser known people I have seen at clubs, coffee houses, and less formal venues. Nor does it include the individual black members of mixed race groups such as the Singing Conquerors.