On June 7, 1979 President Jimmy Carter decreed June to be an annual month-long celebration of Black Music in America. In 2009, President Barack Obama changed the name to African American Music Appreciation Month…By popular demand President Biden has reinstated the celebration and observance to its original name of  “Black Music Month”

Blacks in America have created or inspired many genres and sub-genres of music. Since 1979, we have celebrated all these genres in the month of June. Although there are talented black artists in ALL genres of music, in June we celebrate R&B (rhythm and blues/soul music), Gospel, Jazz, Blues, Funk, Rap and Hip-Hop.

You may have read about my long history in the music industry. I made it clear where I found the best times and the joy of my life. My biggest thrill and most memorable time in music was working in one of America’s most distinguished, important and beloved stores. This store (Big Ben’s and later Wherehouse Music) served the most diverse black community in Los Angeles. Although the store was part of a huge chain we served our neighborhood and community as if we were a stand-alone specialty store. Everyone within the community relied on our store to bring them EVERYTHING that was “Black Music”. Due to the popularity of our store,

it was not long until busses began to show up with tourists.

They wanted to get the music they could not find in most stores. They knew that a trip to our store could mean finding a hot new artist or a hard-to-find piece of music that they just, had to have.

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