Black Music Month (June 2009) is a time for all people but especially African Americans to celebrate our music. Music has always been a staple within the African American experience. Its hard to get any two blacks together and not have music involved. Whether its hip hop, rap, gospel, jazz, blues, negro spirituals, rock (among others), the Black oral and written traditions have transcended all these genres.
Music was vital to African Americans during the era of slavery. From the times of the Middle Passage to the violent ways during Reconstruction, music has always been the way to communicate (using tales the slave owners could not understand ), the way to overcome the oppression of white supremacy, the way to love in the face of that oppression, and the encouragement that a new and better day was coming.
Black music continues to make a big influence even today. It changes culture, it engages audiences on a deeper political, and mental level and it makes people, our people, feel good. This is nothing new. Black music has always went deeper than the human level and transcended into something more spiritual (to even alter our fleshy behavior***wink wink***).
I love our music. I may not agree with some of the content that comes from some black artist whom do not show deference to the aesthetic of our ancestry and in return kill one another through useless diction; however, we need those radical forms of expressions to challenge our own belief and value systems.
Black music is not going anywhere no time soon so lets celebrate it, honor it, and enjoy it. We deserve too!
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