Today is the sixth day of Black History Month. And if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few days of this month, you’d see that I’ve been featuring Black artists across a wide and eclectic array of genres and styles that I think can guide you towards understanding the Black experience.

Through the month — and throughout the year, I hope that you’ll come to understand and appreciate the following:

Black culture is American culture
Black music is American music.
Black history is American history.
America’s greatest and beloved contributions to the world are Black music styles — the blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop.
Black art matters.
You can’t love black art and black artists without loving black people.
Black lives matter — all of them, all of the time.

I love The Whispers. I’ve found some way to mention them throughout my years as a music journalist. And I have at least one DJ set where the legendary R&B act comes up prominently. This shouldn’t be surprising: there’s a lot of nostalgia that comes up with them. I can remember hearing “Rock Steady” being played on the AM radio of my father’s brown 1979 Dodge Aspen with the busted air conditioning. But I mean let’s be honest, if you want to have a party — and you what everyone to dance, play The Whispers.

During Clem’s weekly video request night, someone — mostly me — winds up requesting The Whispers. And as a result, it’s a group obsession. So there’s that, too.