Amazing!

Yesterday (May 31), President Barack Obama officially signed a proclamation that will officially make June 2016 African-American Music Appreciation Month.

Citing the incredibly strong impact that African-American music has had on our nation, here’s the official proclamation signed by the POTUS, via the White House:

“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 African-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.
African-American music helps us imagine 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, 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.”

What an amazing moment for music, specifically the trendsetting African-American music that’s kept this industry afloat for decades.