Black Music Month: Cookout songs
I was going to write A Very Serious Thinkpiece™ for today. And I'm still going to sneak in some knowledge before we get to the fun.
We have our weekend self-care threads for a very important reason: Self-care is radical. Self-care is revolutionary. Self-care is essential when the world is going to shit. Black Americans have always realized this. If they didn't delight in the culture which they created in the face of fascist oppression—yes, America has always been a fascist country for Black people—they would have vanished from this earth long ago. Self-care, joy, delight. Laughing and joking. All are forms of resistance against an oppressor who wants to crush you. Latino and other POC communities know this as well. As much as the white-adjacent would like to think otherwise, this country wasn't made for us. Hell, it wasn't really made for most of the people now considered "white". "No dogs or Irishmen allowed," and so forth. But it definitely wasn't made for those with nonwhite skin or funny names.
And yet we've wrested our place in the sun. We did not give up, we did not surrender. And because of that, we see the whitelash now raging in the United States. And, as always, Black people led the way.
June is Black Music Month. June is also the beginning of summer. And what is more summery than a cookout?
A cookout is that liminal space where the cares of the world outside are dismissed. Where friends and family gather for food, drinks, camaraderie, and music. I'm not Black; but the music I play at my cookouts are definitely Black-centric. Because, as I always say, Black culture is American culture. This country would be unrecognizable without the contributions that Black Americans have made to it. This is most visible in the country's music. (The great composer Antonin Dvořák, when he lived in New York City while musical director of the New York Philharmonic, averred that Black music was the most powerful of America's musics.)
So, for this Tuesday in June, let's share our favorite cookout tunes.
Share your favorites in the comments.