Books and Databases for Celebrating African American Music Appreciation Month

In June, we celebrate the contributions African Americans have made to the world of music and the African diaspora. Formerly known as National Black Music Month, African American Music Appreciation Month was established on June 7, 1979, by President Jimmy Carter to acknowledge musical genres like spiritual/gospel, blues, rock and roll, folk, jazz, rhythm and blues, and hip-hop/rap. These genres are infused into other music categories such as pop, country, disco, and classical music. 

Below is a list of inspiring nonfiction and fiction titles (many available in digital formats) and resources that introduce users of all ages to the world of African American music and the influences it has on our culture.

Books

Adults

• Black Firsts: 500 Years of Trailblazing Achievements and Ground-Breaking Events by Jessie Carney Smith

• Showtime at the Apollo: The Epic Tale of Harlem's Legendary Theater by Ted Fox

• The Meaning of Soul: Black Music and Resilience Since the 1960s by Emily J. Lordi

• When Sunday Comes: Gospel Music in the Soul and Hip-Hop Eras by Claudrena N. Harold

Teens

• Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation by Jeff Chang

• Finding Yvonne  by Brandy Colbert

• Let Me Hear a Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson

• Muted by Tami Charles

• On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

• Solo by Kwame Alexander

Children

• Clayton Byrd Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia

• The Magic Violin by Christine Platt, illustrated by Junissa Bianda

• The Roots of Rap: 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip-Hop by Carole Boston Weatherford

• Let's Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out!: Games, Songs & Stories from an African American Childhood collected by Patricia C. McKissack, illustrated by Brian Pinkney

• Mama Mable's All-Gal Big Band Jazz Extravaganza! by Annie Sieg

• R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Frank Morrison

• Sing a Song: How "Lift Every Voice and Sing" Inspired Generations by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by Keith Mallett

• Stevie Wonder by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara, illustrated by Melissa Lee Johnson

Databases

African American Experience – A full-text digital resource that explores the history and culture of African Americans.

Biography in Context – Provides biographical information on 650,000+ people throughout history, worldwide, and across all disciplines. 

BrainPop – Hundreds of BrainPop videos explain various concepts in Math, Science, Social Studies, English, Art & Music, Health, and Technology.

Music Index Online – Features over 1.4 million musical records. The searchable database is updated quarterly, with about 100,000 new records added annually. 

Musical America – A weekly newspaper of music and the music business.

Oxford Music Online – A gateway offering users the ability to access and cross-search multiple music reference resources in one location. Contains the Grove Music Online, the Oxford Dictionary of Music, and the Oxford Companion to Music.