JUNE IS AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSIC APPRECIATION MONTH

This June, The Black Women’s Agenda, Inc. (BWA) joins our nation in celebrating the 40^thAnniversary of African American Music Appreciation Month.

The month-long observance, which was first inducted on June 7, 1979, by President Jimmy Carter was christened as Black Music Month. President Barack Obama renamed the national observance as African-American Music Appreciation Month. The observance was created to recognize and celebrate the historical influence African-Americans have had on the music industry and is intended to pay homage to the many artists, writers, songs and albums that have inspired music lovers and shaped American pop culture.

In their official proclamation of African American Music Appreciation Month in 2019, the White House stated, “Throughout American history, African American music has reflected our Nation’s challenges and triumphs and has always enriched our Nation’s culture.  During African American Music Appreciation Month, we pay tribute to the talented and inspiring African American artists who have given sound and voice to the full range of human emotions through the blues, jazz, gospel, rock and roll, rap, hip hop, and other genres. This month, we celebrate the countless contributions of African American singers, composers, and musicians, who have influenced and shaped every genre and style of music.  They have turned universally shared emotions and experiences of suffering, joy, passion, pain, faith, injustice, and love into art that speaks to the heart and spirit of any American.  African American music has the power to encourage, inspire, and affect social change.  It transcends time, compelling generation after generation to sing, dance, think, and feel, and it endures in our culture, our history, our spirit, and our collective national soul.”

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