Throwback: Happy Black History Month/Happy 81st Birthday, Dennis Edwards!

It’s the third day of Black History Month. And there are some important things everyone should remember — not just during February but all the time:

• 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 talked about:

• Rick James
• OutKast‘s Big Boi
• Sister Rosetta Tharpe
• John Lee Hooker
• Patti LaBelle

Before I forget, The Temptations‘ second and longest tenured lead vocalist Dennis Edwards was born on this day, 81 years ago. The Temptations are by far, one of the most important soul and pop groups of any era, helping to popularize soul music — and making Motown, one of the most important record labels ever.