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via ebony:

On June 7, 1979, President Jimmy Carter issued a decree to honor the extraordinary contributions made by black musicians across the United States. After petitioning the Carter administration for a year, the now defunct Black Music Association was successful in securing the first Black music event at the White House. Through the arduous efforts of music industry stalwarts Dyana Williams, Kenny Gamble, and Ed Wright, Black Music Month finally came to fruition.

EBONY recently sat down with  to learn how Black Music Month started, her role in shaping it, and its future relevance to the world community.

EBONY: When did you conceptualize the vision for Black Music Month and who were some of the key individuals that helped construct the blueprint in its early stages?

Dyana Williams: The concept for Black Music Month was originated by my ex-husband Kenny Gamble. I was active in the local Black Music Association (BMA) chapter as well as the national chapter. Kenny Gamble and Ed Wright were the initiators of Black Music Month, but [Gamble] being my life partner at that time, we worked on Black Music Month together. And years later, I wrote President Clinton asking him to host a reception at the White House in the same way President Jimmy Carter did in 1979. The White House responded by saying they saw where they had hosted that event at the White House, but President Carter never signed a proclamation so why don’t you get some legislation passed, and then come back to us and we’ll do something. So – I was like, “Okay. No problem.” I had no idea what was involved in getting legislation passed in Congress. It took several years. I lobbied senators and Congressmen. I actually went from office to office on Capitol Hill explaining why black Music and Black Music Month needed to be acknowledged by Congress. I wrote the draft that eventually became the legislation that was passed in Congress called the African American Music Bill and included in that language is the fact that June is Black Music Month.

While it was declared by President Carter in 1979, as far as the US government was concerned, it didn’t become official until 2000. People refer to me as the “Mother of Black Music Month” because of my work in getting Black Music Month legislatively recognized by Congress. I also established an organization called the International Association of African American Music Foundation (IAAAMF). Through this foundation, we enacted this legislation. It was a very proud moment when they called me and said the bill was going up for a vote. Congressman Chaka Fattah from Philadelphia was the individual I worked with to get the legislation passed. He was the one, who introduced it on the floor of the House of Representatives.

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Dyana Williams: Godmother of Black Music Month  was originally published on praisecleveland.com