Today is the sixth day of Black History Month. I tend to use this time as a way to remind readers – and everyone else of a couple of important facts:
- You can’t love Black artists and their work, and not see them as people
- Black lives — and Black art matters
- Black culture is American culture
So as we go through the month, I’m going to talk about a collection of Black artists. It’ll be fairly comprehensive and eclectic list — although it won’t be a complete list.
So far I’ve mentioned the following artists:
- Patti LaBelle
- Rick James
- John Lee Hooker
- Janet Jackson
- Aretha Franklin
- Chaka Khan
- Sister Rosetta Tharpe
- Curtis Mayfield
Coincidentally, Bob Marley was born 78 years ago today. As we all know, Marley is one of the reggae’s pioneers, responsible for popularizing the style across the world. But along with that, he’s one of the world’s most beloved and interesting songwriters to have ever lived.
Happy birthday, Bob! Happy birthday wherever you are!
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