February is Black History Month, which is a time to honour the lives of Black people. In the Music Library, we are highlighting the achievements of Black musicians, composers, and movements in our display this month. We encourage you to come in and view the full display in the library.
Some of the first pieces in the exhibit tell the story of music throughout different time periods, and in times of social change. You can see this in Assembling a Black counter culture, The transformation of Black music, and Black Lives Matter and Music.
We also look at intersecting identities within music, specifically relating to race, gender, and sexuality. This is taken up in Black masculinity and hip-hop music: Black gay men who rap, Issues in African American music: power, gender, race, representation, and Beyoncé in Formation: Remixing Black Feminism.
Finally, we highlight a few of the wide variety of genres where Black musicians have flourished. Most notably this can be seen in pop music, with Shine bright: a very personal history of Black women in pop; Rock and roll, in Black diamond queens: African American women and rock and roll; and hip hop, in I got something to say: gender, race, and social consciousness in rap music.
You will also find selected scores and CDs of prominent Black musicians and composers from our collection like Ballade in A minor by Samuel Taylor-Coleridge or Beyoncé's Lemonade.
We wanted this display to capture a piece of a vibrant history and movement that stretches around the globe. To further explore Black music, you can take a look at our BIPOC guide, which we’ve been working to update over the last few months. It features research, repertoire, and resources related to BIPOC music and musicians.