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First designated in 1979 as Black Music Month by President Jimmy Carter, June was officially declared Black Music Month by presidential proclamation in 2000.
In President Joe Biden’s 2022 Proclamation, he notes that “The music created by Black artists continues to influence musicians of all persuasions, entertain people of all backgrounds, and shape the story of our Nation.”
We celebrate to honor the Black musicians and composers who have given way to the many genres of uniquely American music and the influence of Black music on a variety of genres not just here in the U.S., but around the world.
And to remember that after all, Black Music is American music.
Music educators often adopt various themes throughout the year and teach lessons accordingly: lessons about Hispanic and Latine music in September/October to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, lessons about Native & Indigenous music in November to celebrate Native American Heritage Month, lessons about music from various Asian cultures in May to celebrate Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and so on.
And while it is a common practice for music educators to also focus their lessons on various Black music genres in February and June during Black History Month and Black Music Appreciation Month respectively, I would like to challenge you to instead consider how by centering Black music and musicians in your curriculum, you are in fact centering American music.
The Othering of Black Music
The problem with focusing music lessons on genres such as spirituals, jazz, blues, R &B, and hip hop only during February or June, is that we are effectively othering the very music which is uniquely American.
The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘othering’ as “the fact of viewing and treating a person or group of people as different from yourself and from most people.” Often leading to discrimination and prejudice, especially against marginalized identities and groups, othering inherently conveys a sense of inferiority.
In fact, Black music has influenced every popular music genre in the U.S. Black folk music styles, such as spirituals, field hollers, work chants, and game songs gave way for the blues, country, R & B, and those influences are seen in hip hop, soul, and contemporary R & B today. The blues is a foundational part of all popular styles today as it influenced country, rock ‘n roll, R & B, and in turn contemporary pop music. There is no American music without Black music.
For example, many people tend to associate rock ‘n roll with the so called “King of Rock and Roll”, Elvis Presley. However, Black musicians such as Little Richard, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Fats Domino, and Chuck Berry, were the true pioneers of the genre. “Hound Dog”, one of Elvis’ biggest hits was in fact first recorded by singer Ellie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton. While scholars have argued that by playing for multi-racial audiences, he (Elvis) helped to point the path away from segregation” it must also be pointed out that he definitely capitalized on a genre that originated with Black musicians and helped to make it more “acceptable” for white audiences.
We see this kind of othering of Black music in music classrooms when teachers feature “special” lessons on Black music genres, only to never revisit those genres again in that year’s curriculum. While it may not be the music teacher’s intention, the impact of only featuring Black music at special times of the year conveys an unconscious bias to students that Black music is not worthy of on-going inclusion in the music curriculum, that it only serves as a “special” study at certain designated times.
All that said, let me be clear: Absolutely teach Black music in February and June! Teach that blues lesson, introduce a hip hop artist, delve into the history of rock ‘n roll!
And, if February & June are the only times that Black music is happening in your music classroom, you have some critical self-reflecting to do.
Centering Black Music is Centering American Music
A balanced music curriculum includes study of a wide range of cultures, concepts, skills, and musical genres both locally and globally. Centering Black music presents the counternarrative that Black music is American music and that there is no contemporary popular American music without Black music. Centering Black music also presents us as music educators with numerous ways to make connections to the numerous genres that are related to, and have developed because of, the influence of Black music globally.
Putting the Celebration of Black Music into Action
How can music educators center Black music? Here are a few tips:
- Take an honest look at the repertoire, composers, musicians, and other musical content you utilize in your music curriculum. Who is most often represented? Who is being left out?
- When teaching about Black music and musicians, always start with joy! While Black music genres reflect the many hardships that are true for the Black experience in the U.S., they also reflect the joys.
- Do your research! Educate yourself on the history of American music, and pick a genre of Black music to really dig into and learn about.
- Seek out authentic recordings and musicians to learn from.
- Always teach with context. Music is a reflection of people, and as such music presented without proper context of people, histories, and events is a form of whitewashing. It’s important to both teach the music for music’s sake, but also take the time to teach where the music came from, why it came about, and from whom.
- Commit to intentionally programming Black music throughout the year’s curriculum to support teaching music concepts and skills.
As we all continue to work for a more just and equitable world, I hope we as music educators remember the important role that we play.
Not only do we help our students learn musical facts and skills, but through the learning of those musical facts and skills, along with the historical and cultural contexts of the music, we can help students to gain better understandings of themselves, others, and the world. As we help our students make connections between the music and universal concepts and ideas, we can help support our students’ development of critical perspectives and empathy that they can take with them as they move through life.
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Until next time,
Ashley
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