As we celebrate African-American Music Appreciation Month this June, another black legend has left the scene. Last year, we noted the passing of “the King of Blues” – B.B. King. This year, it is Prince, the master of many genres, who is gone. Prince Rogers Nelson died April 21, leaving a huge legacy and a vault full of music yet unreleased.
Let the music live on and let us remember him as we observe this month. President Jimmy Carter first designated June as Black Music Month in a proclamation signed in 1979, and President Barack Obama renamed it African-American Music Appreciation Month in 2009 and continued the tradition. The month has been celebrated with festivals, concerts and other observances.
For educators in search of materials to teach the history of black music, or for people who just want to read more about it, DiverseBooks.net has many titles about black music throughout the world, all available at significant discounts from their list price.
Black Diva of the Thirties: The Life of Ruby Elzy, by David E. Weaver, $25.20, (List Price: $28), University of Mississippi Press, ISBN: 9781578066513, pp. 208.
Ruby Pearl Elzy, born in 1908 in Pontotoc, Miss., became a leading operatic soprano. She was preparing for her debut in the title role of Verdi’s “Aida” when she died in 1943 at the age of 35 during a routine surgery. She would have been one of the first black artists to appear in grand opera.
