Black History Month 2023: Daily Songs

As I was thinking about an area of musical focus for this Black History month, I started thinking about historical songs. I decided to focus on that. 

I know of songs that exist but I did not use, but I also know there are songs out there that I don't know about. There are certainly songs that that have not been written yet.

There is always the questions of whether to focus specifically on African American history or not. I did want there to be more than slavery and civil rights, so I started with some songs about Africa before 1619. 

That only included three songs at the start, but I ended up including some South African history as well.

Part of that is my love for Stevie Wonder, and thinking about his Apartheid song, and some other songs I am fond of. It became more than that, because while prejudice was an issue before, Apartheid did not become an official policy until 1948, not long after World War II.

That was interesting to me, because so frequently after a war where Black people served, we see an increase in prejudice and attempts to codify that racism. Then the two struggles became entwined for me. It was a nice surprise to find a rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday" celebrating Nelson Mandela.

There is a chronological order to the songs. "Apartheid (It's Wrong)" comes right after "The Tuskegee Airmen Suite", rather than later when awareness was growing in the States.

(Also, there are a lot of songs about the military.)

I think the music is important. Artists United Against Apartheid was my first introduction to Apartheid. Even then, I didn't really grasp that Sun City was specifically a luxury resort, and I did not recognize so many people in the song then (DJ Kool Herc!), but it told me there was something and then I was primed to learn more.

These songs matter, and the events matter. It is not a coincidence that the death of Emmett Till and the Montgomery Bus Boycott are both situated in 1955. 

There are links to articles with the 28 songs for the month. Sometimes they surprised me; as I was looking for one about the Tuskegee Airmen, I found a recent obituary. It is not so far past.

Because there is so much not covered and so much work left to do, I wanted to end with something showing hope. "We Shall Overcome" was an obvious choice, and presented by an HBCU choir was also an obvious choice. 

I had also thought about James Brown for celebrating Black pride, and then there were feelings about the Super Bowl, so I threw in five extra songs for March, but no articles.

The upcoming songs will be getting back to Motown, but that will be a different post. There is a topic in this song list that needs its own post.

Then I have an idea I love for Black Music Month in June, though I am not sure if I can pull it off.

Songs:

2/1 “Mama Africa” by Angélique Kidjo
https://phys.org/news/2018-11-africa-cradle-humankind.html

2/2 “I Might Have Been Queen” by Tina Turner
https://blog.rhinoafrica.com/2018/03/27/9-ancient-african-kingdoms/

2/3 “Medieval West Africa” by Griot B
https://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/timeline/africa_before.htm

2/4 “Slave Song” by Sade
https://aaregistry.org/story/chattel-slavery-in-america-a-definition/

2/5 “Ship Ahoy” by The O'Jays
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/09/atlantic-slave-trade-history-animated-interactive.html

2/6 “Toussant L'Ouverture” by Santana
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-haitian-revolution-and-the-hole-in-french-high-school-history

2/7 “The Ballad of Nat Turner” by Lonnie Glass
https://web.archive.org/web/20100829172548/http://www.americanheritage.com/people/articles/web/20051111-nat-turner-slavery-rebellion-virginia-civil-war-thomas-r-gray-abolitionist.shtml

2/8 “Heaven's Door” by Alice Smith
https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2020/06/harriet-tubman-conductor-on-the-underground-railroad/

2/9 “Charging Fort Wagner” from Glory by James Horner
https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/06/01/restoration-boston-shaw-memorial

2/10 “Buffalo Soldiers” by Bob Marley
https://www.wtxl.com/news/local-news/jack-hadley-black-history-museum-to-host-9th-annual-buffalo-soldiers-heritage-festival

2/11 “Jim Crow Blues” by Lead Belly
https://www.crf-usa.org/black-history-month/a-brief-history-of-jim-crow

2/12 “Marcus Garvey” by Burning Spear
http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/twenty/tkeyinfo/garvey.htm

2/13 “Harlem Hellfighter” by Tom Morello
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/one-hundred-years-ago-harlem-hellfighters-bravely-led-us-wwi-180968977/

2/14 “Harlem” by Duke Ellington
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2021/02/23/hurston-hughes-harlem-renaissance

2/15 “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday
https://www.biography.com/news/billie-holiday-strange-fruit

2/16 “Tuskegee Airmen Suite” by Richard Kaufman and London Symphony Orchestra
https://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/harold-brown-1924-2023-u-s-air-force-officer-tuskegee-airman/

2/17 “Apartheid (It's Wrong)” by Stevie Wonder
https://www.britannica.com/topic/apartheid

2/18 “Bakai” by John Coltrane
https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/aug/28

2/19 “Rosa Parks” by Outkast
https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/rosa-parks-beyond-the-bus-boycott-a-life-of-activism

2/20 “Mississippi Goddam” by Nina Simone
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/the-story-behind-nina-simones-protest-song-mississippi-goddam/16651/#

2/21 “Biko” by Peter Gabriel
https://artsandculture.google.com/story/steve-biko-the-black-consciousness-movement-steve-biko-foundation/GQWBgt1iWh4A8A?hl=en

2/22 “Happy Birthday” by Stevie Wonder
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/stevie-wonder/happy-birthday

2/23 “I Ain't Gonna Play Sun City” by Artists United Against Apartheid
https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/little-steven-sun-city-protest-song/

2/24 “By the Time I Get to Arizona” by Public Enemy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Mecham

2/25 “Keep Ya Head Up” by Tupac
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-17/latasha-harlins-memorial-playground-black-lives-matter-south-los-angeles

2/26 “Yes We Can” by will.i.am
https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/yes-we-can-a-speech-by-barak-obama-2008

2/27 “I Can't Breathe” by H.E.R.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/27/us/george-floyd-trnd/index.html

2/28 “We Shall Overcome” by Morehouse College
https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/resources-for-educators/classroom-resources/media-and-interactives/media/music/story-behind-the-song/the-story-behind-the-song/we-shall-overcome/

3/1 “Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud” by James Brown
3/2 “Black Man” by Stevie Wonder
3/3 “Don't Touch My Hair” by Solange feat. Sampha
3/4 “Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika” by the Khayelitsha United Mambaza Choir
3/5 “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by Sheryl Lee Ralph