Category: Music
Amel Larrieux: A Soft Voice, a Soulful Spirit, and the Strength to Be Yourself
Some singers have voices that shake the room. Others have soul-filled voices that make you lean in a little closer. Amel Larrieux belongs to that seco [...]
Miriam Makeba and the Sound of Home: How Music Helps Us Carry What We Love
The extraordinary South African singer who carried her heritage across the world
There are certain sounds that take us home.
A song your mother [...]
The Incredible Legacy of Andrea Martin: 15 Hit Songs That Still Move Us
15 unforgettable songs by the Black woman whose words helped shape generations of R&B
There is something remarkable about a woman whose words b [...]
Jungle Boogie: The Joy of Funk and Giving Yourself Permission to Feel Good
Sometimes the music reminds us that we are still alive, and that is reason enough to dance.
There is something wonderfully uplifting about “Jungle Bo [...]
The Cabin Kids: Black Children, Beautiful Voices, and the Joy We Kept Singing Into the World
Black history holds more than what was done to us. It holds everything we created, loved, celebrated, and shared with the world.
So GenX+? Who else [...]
Janet Jackson’s Control: The 1986 Album That Taught Young Women to Expect Respect
Before we had today's language for boundaries, emotional labor, and relationship expectations, Janet Jackson was singing about them.
In 1986, Janet [...]
Grief Comes Back Again and Again. So Can Love.
How remembrance, music, and personal tributes can help us live with loss
There is something especially beautiful about the hip-hop classic They Rem [...]
Because They Refused Jim Crow, We Walk Through Different Doors
October 7, 1955: Ella Fitzgerald Arrested After Performing Before an Integrated Audience in Houston
We live inside freedoms that somebody else had to [...]
10 Surprising Lessons for Survivors from Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive
When most of us hear Gloria Gaynor sing “I Will Survive,” we hear certainty.
We hear a woman who has figured something out. She sounds like she kno [...]
Tammi Terrell’s Story Reminds Us That Survival Is More Than Staying Alive
When people speak about Tammi Terrell, they often begin with how young she was when she died.
Twenty-four.
They talk about the brain tumor. The inte [...]