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Black Music Month 2009- Part I: Saluting Our Past ... Shaping Our Future
June 2, 2009
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June is Back Music Month, and during these next four weeks of 2009 we are re-dedicating these editorials to the recognition, perpetuation and preservation of our Urban radio and music industries. Many of those who will be a part of this series were born into a world divided by color -- a world which offered them little and expected even less.
We're going to recognize many of our music and radio legends, young and old, who have been at the forefront of the struggle. Men and women who do not believe that challenges should be diluted -- they have been involved in America's indigenous music -- those who make it, those who play it, those who market it and those who support it. Unfortunately, ours is a culture that often honors mere fame far more than it does hard achievement.
As we celebrate Black Music Month 2009, we reflect back on the progress we've made as a nation, as a society and as an industry.
Black Music Month exists because of a need. A need to recognize the contributors. The artists, writers, publishers, executives, programmers, air talent, promoters, journalists, educators, students and even members of the general public who join with us each year to acknowledge and recognize the immense contributions of African-American music and radio to our changing culture. Combined they are mirrors of our outer and inner selves.
As we prepare to usher in another musical milestone, despite the economy, there is still reason for hope. One of the reasons for that hope is the fact that we are still here in the struggle together. We didn't choose to be, but we are. Unfortunately, some that would like to have been here have been called away, which underlines the fact that longevity is a precious commodity and life is sweet.
Generational Recognition & The Dream
Black Music Month is about the music, naturally, but it's also about recognition and it's about time. Time is a continuum with no beginning or end through which the past, present and future are measured.
For all of us, time is taking its toll. Just to survive, most of us have had to keep moving and grapple with that elusive enemy called time. We've also had to battle with the monolithic majority corporations. The competition has forced us to be stronger. It has spawned a more sophisticated communicator and a more highly skilled executive.
They're executives who are part of a professional class that's better educated and economically and politically astute -- one that's made gigantic strides. Because of them, there is new reason for hope.
The current generation has set up institutions that will continue to benefit them and their children as they prepare to grow old and live longer than any other generation. In today's tough economic times, they can no longer spend what they want or cut their own taxes. The ultimate baby boomer philosophy of "we want to have it all" no longer exists. Groups have been forced to change, yet they're not a generation that has had to deal with the reality of sacrifice.
President ObamaOften when people get older they say to the younger generation, "Well, it's your turn now." I feel a little differently. Rather than just passing the torch and saying we did our best, this generation -- which dreamed such big, impossible dreams, with the election of Barrack Obama -- has seen some of those dreams come true. This is the same generation that refuses to step aside and sees itself as part of change that it still passionately believes will continue.
The origins of the entertainment culture can be traced back to the phonograph record and AM radio, both of which made possible for the first time the development of a genuinely mass-musical culture. But until very recently, entertainment was a luxury in which we could indulge upon only on occasion. Now it is a daily reality, perhaps a necessity, and certainly, in the minds of many of us, an entitlement.
During the next four weeks, we will continue in our proud tradition of recognition by combining our dreams with those whose dreams have been affected by consolidation, downsizing, unemployment, accidents, illness, poverty and simply growing old.
We know the clock is ticking. During Black Music Month 2009, we will continue to touch on and recognize distinguished people and events from all sides of our industries. Men and women who have taken the lead in helping to mend the ugly rips in the fabric of society and restore the fragile bonds that so many of us thought we were building. Just by believing in themselves and refusing to give up or give in, they have given back.
Some of those who we want to recognize this year are people whose efforts and contributions have enriched lives and whose sacrifices might have gone unnoticed:
There is a chance that this generation may reclaim its earlier legacy. They could have a second coming in terms of social idealism and find new ways to contribute that mean something beyond themselves. In some realms, this new generation already takes pride in what they have bequeathed. Women, for example, are breaking into many male-dominated fields on a broad, new scale providing expanded options for those who follow.
This generation didn't invent the genre, but they were the fans who made it so durable. Even as music remains youth-oriented, today's young "music freaks" couldn't escape the feeling that they wanted something more. They now have to admit that both the performers and the times have changed. The explosion of energy that began in the '90s is just a memory
Although there has been some progress made, even since last year we still live in a time and country where many of us continue to be deliberately isolated, racially classified and often systematically deprived of both the resources and the opportunities to succeed. For too long and despite our obvious talent and gifts, we have been allowed to only assume limited roles in our industries.
Black Music Month allows us to reflect on the rich history of the radio and music industries that conveys from one generation to another its lessons and obligations. Accumulated experiences and sharing of the histories is what Black Music Month is really about. They define our opportunities. It is our hope that by recognizing those events and opportunities we've selected, we will help to encourage dignity for what they accomplished. And perhaps most importantly, we hope to inspire tomorrow's leaders with the idea that integrity still matters ... that family values still matter ... as does respect.
Accumulated experiences and sharing of the histories is what Black Music Month is really about.
It is still our feeling that our industries may be on the verge of a new era -- one that is faster, funkier, filled with electronic challenges, new opportunities and eventually, for a select few, huge rewards. That's part of the new reality of Black Music Month. And as we prepare for the next four weeks we will celebrate with you, we encourage you to join us in looking back and we remind you that the journey is frequently as important as the destination.
In front of the ears of our listeners in markets both large and small are faces ... worried faces that reflect lives broken by the economy. Communities have been shattered by crime and drugs. Futures are clouded by fear and uncertainty.
These people have questions that must be answered. As we expand our efforts to survive, we must seek out and provide answers. Few people wield the power to bring about social change on the scale that our stations can. Along with causing new artists to emerge, we must also encourage an active participatory counting of these we influence in the new census.
In a very real sense, we are part of the modern social justice movement and those of us who can respond to change need to meet the challenge and help to make a difference. Because the world is watching both our achievements and our failures, we find on a trip like this the journey is just as important as the destination.
Word.
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