2 The Hampton Roads Messenger


Volume 10 Number 10


President Obama Officially Proclaims June 2016 as African-American Music Appreciation Month


June 2016


a better world, and it offers hope that we will get there together.


This month, we celebrate the


music that reminds us that our growth as a Nation and as people is reflected in our capacity to create great works of art. Let us recognize the performers behind this incredible music, which has compelled us to stand up — to dance, to express our faith through song, to march against injustice, and to defend our country’s enduring promise of freedom and opportunity for all.


NOW, THEREFORE, I,


BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2016 as African-American Music Appreciation Month. I call upon public officials, educators, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate activities and programs that raise awareness and foster appreciation of music that is composed, arranged, or performed by African Americans.


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, President Barack Obama officially


declared June African-American Music Appreciation Month with a signed proclamation. Although the name of the month, which was Black Music Month, changed in 2009, President Obama has recognized the month every year since he’s been in office. But what do you expect from a president who touts Kendrick Lamar as one of his favorite artists?


A vital part of our Nation’s proud heritage, African-American music


exemplifies the creative spirit at the heart of American identity and is among the most innovative and powerful art the world has ever known. It accompanies us in our daily lives, and it has rung out at turning points in our history and demonstrated how our achievements as a culture go hand-in-hand with our progress as a Nation. During Af- rican-American Music Appreciation Month, we honor the artists who, through this music, bring us together, show us a true reflection of ourselves,


and inspire us to reach for the harmony that lies beyond our toughest struggles.


Songs by African-American


musicians span the breadth of the human experience and resonate in every corner of our Nation — animating our bodies, stimulating our imaginations, and nourishing our souls. In the ways they transform real stories about real people into art, these artists speak to universal human emotion and the restlessness that stirs within us all. Af- rican-American music helps us imagine


I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fortieth.


Now, of course, there are


people who aren’t happy with the name change of the month. One writer wrote that changing the name completely erases the fact that Africans have contributed to black music, and that the president did the month a disservice by changing the name. But everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, right?


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