In 1977, Lagos, Nigeria hosted arguably the largest Pan-African festival of arts and culture seen in post-colonial history. Dubbed by art historians as "FESTAC 77", it saw close to 10,000 Black singers, artists and art curators come to Nigeria to partake in an exchange that primarily sought to harmonise the Black experience across the diaspora. One of the main goals of FESTAC 77 was to kickstart necessary conversations on topics like slavery and colonialism. Nigeria's historical significance as a major point of origin for many Black people in the Americas foregrounded the country's centrality to the initiative. 

Some notable Black women in attendance included Marilyn Nance, an African American photographer and Mariam Makeba, a South African singer. Nance played a key role as a curator for the festival and, to this day, still shares images gathered from the event on her Instagram page. Makeba had, by then, achieved status as someone who actively camapigned against the apartheid regime in her home country of South Africa and championed Pan-African music and values.

Her politics, as a self-identified Pan-Africanist, were also firmly rooted in sisterhood. Alongside African American singer and late legend Nina Simone, she collaborated to produce a song called "Thulasizwe / I Shall Be Released", a celebratory anthem about the nuance of Black womanhood. Art quickly and beautifully transitioned into life, as the pair maintained a rich and long-standing friendship right up until Simone's death in 2003. Makeba featured on Simone's memorial board and was critical to the proper management of the latter's estate after she passed.

Of the African female singers from Makeba's generation still alive, Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo takes precedence in her continual centring of Black feminist thought in her music. The multi-award-winning singer has collaborated with numerous singers from the diaspora, including American singer Alicia Keys on a song called "Djin Djin", which appears in an album by the same title. Sung in a fusion of English from Keys and Kidjo's native Fon, while narrating the plight of a Somali woman, "Djin Djin" incorporates perspectives from numerous types of women of African descent around the world, addressing the need for cross-border unity in the process, represented by the multi-language narration of the plight of a Somali woman. The two female performers were to unite again in 2009, singing "Afrika" for that year's Mandela Day at New York's Radio City Music Hall to an eager audience of thousands.

Keys, herself, has a track record of collaborating with African singers and being actively pro-Black women. She is the co-founder of the non-profit organisation She Is Music; it was founded to address the barriers to entry majorly affecting women of colour in the American music industry. Keys has also used her social media platforms to lend her voice to conversations surrounding police brutality and misogynoir. Prior to her multiple performances relating to the late South African president Nelson Mandela (including a concert in 2013 to mark his passing), she had worked with Malian singer Oumou Sangare in a recital of her hit song "Fallin". As one of Sangare's most viewed collaborations on Youtube, it saw the francophone singer beautifully harmonise Keys' English verses, incorporating sounds from her indigenous Malian tongue as well. Sangare has also gone on to work with Black women artists in the francophone African diaspora as well. Rising French-Malian star Aya Nakamura joined the veteran singer on stage at Paris' 2018 "La Cigale" festival, highlighting the beauty of African female alliances, not just across borders but across generations.

Simone, Keys and Nakamura are just a few of many Black women from the diaspora who have engaged in continental African arts and music, with a recent renaissance informing the production of more culturally inclusive works than ever. Beyoncé has been at the forefront of this artistic "return to the Motherland" in the diaspora, infusing amapiano, highlife and Afropop sounds and visuals in her latest project, Lion King: The Gift. The visual album worked to platform African female musicians such as Yemi Alade, Tiwa Savage, Moonchild Sanelly and Busiswa. The artists featured have affirmed this, with Sanelly expressing pride in her participation on Twitter. Although valid criticism has been levelled at the project due to its erasure of East African sounds, for a film set in Kenya, the album has worked to introduce predominantly Western audiences to underrepresented voices in the music industry. 

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Savage herself has a strong history of collaborating with Black women in the diaspora. Prior to becoming a household name in Nigeria, she lent her vocals as a backup singer for African American singers like Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston and Chaka Khan. She's also performed on stage with girl groups like Destiny's Child. In addition, she is a well-recognised songwriter and co-wrote the track "Collard Greens and Cornbread", a song from the Grammy-nominated album Back to Me by African American singer Fantasia Barrino. As a songwriter, Savage also has writing credits for songs performed by Monica. Savage's most recent EP, Water and Garri, saw features from the emerging Ghanaian-American singer Amaarae and the beloved Black American singer Brandy on "Tales by Moonlight" and "Somebody's Son", respectively. 

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Black women's long-standing tradition of intra-community co-operation and enterprise shines through across different languages, generations and geographical regions. The advent of the internet and social media has accelerated the pace and expanded the reach of such collaborations, which has enabled the work of continental women musicians - who generally lack the same resource access as diasporic women - to be showcased on a global stage. The future looks promising for more culturally rich and diverse sounds from Africa and the diaspora.