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Blackbirding is more than an album—it's an act of truth-telling. Created during an artist residency on the Gettysburg battlefield, this project reclaims the Civil War narrative through the lens of a Southern Black feminist, bridging past and present with unflinching honesty.

The title Blackbirding references the 19th-century practice of kidnapping free Black people into slavery. Queen Esther contends that, like slavery and the Civil War, blackbirding has never ended.This body of work interrogates that continuity, centering resistance and grace.

These 12 songs blend alt-Americana, alt-country, spirituals and sacred traditions, offering a sonic tapestry rooted in Black ancestral memory. Each track pulls from the blood-soaked soil of Gettysburg and radiates outward -- from lost daughters and haunted battlefields to ICE agents that blackbird innocent civilians, and the everyday quiet of surviving in America while Black.