June is Black Music and if we started a conversation about the greats like Chuck Berry, Nina Simone, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Mary Wells, Michael Jackson, and Luther Vandross this could easy take a few years to complete.

Why is June Black Music Month? Why do only celebrate Black Music for a month?  I wanted to know why and how it came to be.

I was surprised with my findings.  President Jimmy Carter first declared June Black Music Month in 1979 but hadn’t signed a presidential proclamation making it official.

Realizing that no presidential proclamation had been signed making Black Music Month official, Dyana Williams made it her mission to get a presidential proclamation signed making it official.

In 2000, President Bill Clinton invited Dyana Williams to the White House to celebrate the passing of the African-American Music Bill making Black Music Month official.

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