Today is the eleventh day of Black History Month. Because the current administration is racist, fascist and wants to deny the existence and histories of anyone that isn’t cis-het and white, there are some important things everyone should remember during this month — and every single month:
- 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
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 talked about the following:
- Big Boi, who celebrated his 51st birthday on February 1
- Rick James, who was born 78 years ago on February 1
- Sudan Archives, one of the most talented and dynamic artists performing out there today
- The Temptations‘ second and longest tenured lead vocalist Dennis Edwards who was born 83 years ago on February 3
- Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter, bassist and JOVM mainstay Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner
- Bobby Brown, who celebrated his 57th birthday on February 5
- The legendary Bob Marley, who was born 81 years ago on February 6
- Natalie Cole, the daughter of the legendary jazz singer and pianist Nat King Cole, who was born 76 years ago on February 6
- J. Dilla, who was born 52 years ago on February 7
- The pioneering Sister Rosetta Tharpe
- The uncompromising and trailblazing Tracy Chapman
- The legendary Roberta Flack, who was born 89 years ago on February 10
- D’Angelo, who was born on this day 52 years ago
Bad Brains‘ founder and frontman H.R. celebrates his 70th birthday today. H.R. is a pioneer of hardcore punk rock and as a young man, was considered one of the most dynamic frontmen in the genre’s history. Countless front people in punk — and in hardcore punk — owe him an enormous debt of gratitude.
Happy birthday, brother!
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