Black Music Month is the brainchild of music mogul and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Kenny Gamble, radio personality and media coach Dyana Williams and Cleveland DJ Ed Wright.
The first celebration was held on June 7, 1979. President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter hosted a dinner and concert on the White House’s South Lawn. Performers included Chuck Berry, Billy Eckstine, Evelyn King and Max Roach.
Every president since Carter has issued a proclamation recognizing the contributions of African American musicians. In his 2024 proclamation, President Joe Biden said:
During Black Music Month, we celebrate the Black artists and creatives whose work has so often been a tidal wave of change — not only by defining the American songbook and culture but also by capturing our greatest hopes for the future and pushing us to march forward together.
Our Nation has only recognized Black Music Month for 45 years, but its legacy stretches back to our country’s earliest days. Black music began when enslaved people, who were cruelly prohibited from communicating in their native languages, found ways to express themselves through music. Set to the sound of African rhythms, they captured the inhumanity, tragedy, and toll that America’s original sin took on their lives while also telling the stories of their hopes and dreams, faith and spirituality, and love and purpose. Ever since, Black performers have carried on that tradition of using art to break down barriers, create sacred spaces for expression, and give voice to the promise of America for all Americans. They have created and shaped some of our most beloved genres of music — like folk, blues, jazz, hip-hop, country, rock and roll, gospel, spirituals, and R&B. Black music has set the beat of the Civil Rights Movement; expressed the inherent dignity and captured the pride and power of Black communities; and held a mirror to the good, the bad, and the truth of our Nation.
NPR is celebrating Black Music Month with an all-women lineup of Tiny Desk concerts. Featured performers include Chaka Khan, Lakecia Benjamin, Meshell Ndegeocello, Tems, Tierra Whack, SWV and Flo Milli.
Tiny Desk host and series producer Bobby Carter said:
This Black Music Month, we’re giving the ladies their flowers! We’re releasing nine Tiny Desk concerts from Black women who’ve paved the way for what we hear today in Black music and others who are carving out their own paths. All of them are queens in their own right who represent a beautiful array of genres, generations and walks of life.
If you hear any noise, it ain’t the boys. It’s the ladies at NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert.
