Black Music Month: Sounds That Raised Me 

I don’t possess the gift to make music but I cannot imagine my life without it. As a tiny tot for Christ, I wore out The Bodyguard soundtrack and my sing-a-long Disney tapes. The love for music has always been strong. Every activity requires a soundtrack. Running, driving, housework, in tandem with the TV, and especially at work the tunes must play. June is when we celebrate Black Music Month, venerating the art and artists who’ve shaped and soundtracked our lives.

Kenny Gamble, Dyana Williams, and DJ Ed Wright created Black Music Month in 1978. On June 7^th, 1979 President Jimmy Carter hosted the first Black Music Month celebration on the White House Lawn, however the lack of a Presidential proclamation left the designation unofficial. Dyana Williams learned this years later and spent a decade fighting to have Black Music Month officially recognized. She co-authored House Concurrent Bill 509, which Congress passed in 2000. We owe “The Godmother of Black Music Month” a debt of gratitude for her tireless advocacy.

The sounds that conjure memories of weekend cleaning, cookouts, road trips, church, family reunions and various life events are my favorite piece of Black culture. We are a part of every American music genre. The expansiveness of our expression is mighty to behold. That richness has colored my life…

When your parents exclusively listen to V103, with the “Fly Jock” Tom Joyner, you sing about a “diamond in the back, sunroof top, digging the scene with a gangsta lean” along with William DeVaughn on “Be Thankful for What You Got”.

Bopping in the backseat to A Taste of Honey’s “Boogie Oogie Oogie”, a roller-skating rink gold standard. 

Des’ree’s “You Gotta Be” was my first empowerment anthem. 

I’ll never recover from the subway in The Wiz (1978) but “Emerald City Sequence” makes up for it. That is a masterpiece of a cinematic sequence. 

Never Say Never stayed in rotation. Who didn’t sing both Brandy and Monica’s parts from “The Boy Is Mine”?

Seared in my mind is the everlasting femme fatale Carmen Jones (1954). Dorothy Dandridge, with a flower in her hair sirening through “Dats Love”.

I recall a standing ovation in the movie theater when Jennifer Hudson concluded “And I’m Telling You” in Dreamgirls (2006).

My dad took me to my first concert, Whitney Houston, my original Beyoncé. He snuck in fudge, if they sell it at the arena why make a fuss about bringing it into the event space?

Riding back from a Delteens (now Delta G.E.M.S.) event listening to The Diary of Alicia Keys wistfully looking out the school bus window.

The choir made church enjoyable. It was rapt attention when they laid into Kirk Franklin & The Family’s “Melodies From Heaven”. RAIN!

I’m fairly certain that the first verse I ever memorized word for word was Andre 3000’s on “I Can’t Wait”. If I see his name, I’m pressing play. 

Donda’s son is a wretch now, but I remember begging and lying to my mom to get College Dropout. Why so touchy about hip-hop and rap?

Lupe Fiasco’s tour during The Cool era was my first concert experience with friends. I still have the merch hoodie.

Every HBCU alum reacts to Crucial Conflict’s “Hay”. Hello to the Blue and Gold Marching Machine!! Let me check when Homecoming tickets drop.

For a few weeks I lived my dream of bumping Big K.R.I.T.’s “Subenstein (My Sub IV)” in a Camaro. The finest muscle car music.

Post lay off in 2017, Chloe x Halle’s “Down” was on repeat. The layoff wasn’t sad but finding a new job in my area was rough. 

“All The Stars” transports me to a movie theater as sand table credits roll by.  I stood on the Walk of Fame another time it floated in the air, thinking of my favorite actor.

There’s also the music that speak directly to my spirit…

My affirmations pull from Beyoncé’s “Bigger”. The vulnerability appeals to me. Trying to keep it together and remember that you’re a small part of the larger picture.

Tanerélle’s “Mama Saturn” is sensually cosmic, divinity in song.

sahn is a treasure. The musical alchemist helps me calm and ground my fiery spirit with “High Speed Meditation”.

Stevie Wonder’s “Another Star” is a lament that makes me want to throw my arms up and move as the spirit leads.

Shirley Bassey preached with “Diamonds Are Forever”. “Men are mere mortals who are not worth going to your grave for”, a plain and straightforward truth.

Music is as inspiring as it is joyful and entertaining. It connects with every emotion and experience. That’s why every post on the site has a song. When nothing else will do, music is the answer. If you haven’t encountered Naima Cochran’s Black Music Month Challenge she hosts across social media via her MusicSermon platform, get into it! The fun connects music lovers to share, reminisce, and occasionally quarrel. Day 11 was quite passionate. Gratitude overflows for the art of music and the Black artists who create magic.