Black Music Month has evolved since the 1970s. Here's what you need to know

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Every June since the 1970s, across the United States, musicians, fans and industry professionals celebrate Black Music Month

LOS ANGELES — Every June since the 1970s, across the United States, musicians, fans and industry professionals celebrate Black Music Month. It's an opportunity to highlight the contributions of Black artists and position Black art at the center of American culture across popular music and beyond.

Black Music Month 's origins trace back to 1979. In that year, a decade after the Civil Rights era, President Jimmy Carter designated June a time to celebrate the cultural and historical significance of Black musicianship and held the first ever Black Music Month celebration on the White House lawn. That makes 2024 its 45th annual commemoration.

But what inspired Black Music Month in the first place, and how has it evolved?

Black Music Month was originally founded in 1979, but not by President Carter. Credit goes to Philadelphia soul pioneer Kenny Gamble of Gamble and Huff and a couple of other associates, said Naima Cochrane of the Black Music Action Coalition, an advocacy organization founded in June 2020 following a music industry blackout in response to the murder of George Floyd.

“Black Music Month was founded out of an organization called the Black Music Association,” she says.

Gamble based his organization, founded in 1978, on the Country Music Association because he saw how much power and influence they held in the country music business, Cochrane explains. He aimed to do the same with Black stakeholders in the music industry. Those included promoters, retailers, bookers, venue owners, executives, artists and household names like Rev. Jesse Jackson and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy.

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