Op-Ed: Black Music Is Not Just Entertainment. It Is Survival.

Op-Ed: Black Music Is not just entertainment. It is survival.

Long before Black Americans held political power, built economic influence, or could count on equal protection under the law, we had something untouchable. We had our music.  Before we owned radio stations, record labels, or corporate boardrooms, we had music. Before our stories made it into mainstream history books, they lived in our melodies. Long before America was willing to actually listen to our voices, we found a way to make sure it could…

Black Music Has Always Been A Lifeline. It Should Be Treated As Such

Source: UCG / Getty Most of us have songs that live so deeply in our memory, we can recite the lyrics on command years after the last time we listened to them. When we hear those songs again, even decades later, we enter a form of sonic time travel; the lyrics naturally repopulate in our minds, as do specific feelings and memories, completely unbothered by the passage of time.  For me, this time travel happens when I hear Deniece Williams’ “Let’…

BLK ALERTS - Black Music Has Always Been A Lifeline. Black Music Month Should Treat It Like One

Source: UCG / Getty Most of us have songs that live so deeply in our memory, we can recite the lyrics on command years after the last time we listened to them. When we hear those songs again, even decades later, we enter a form of sonic time travel; the lyrics naturally repopulate in our minds, as do specific feelings and memories, completely unbothered by the passage of time.  For me, this time travel happens when I hear Deniece Williams’ “Let’…