The year 2021 marks the 95th annual celebration of Black history in the US. This observation was founded as a week-long event in February, 1926 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson and his colleagues in the Association for the Study of Negro (now African American) Life and History, formed in 1915. These pioneers wanted to coordinate a growing nationwide enthusiasm for learning about Black history, which had been ignored, omitted, and distorted in the national narrative, and for applying its lessons. In 1972, the name underwent a shift from Negro History Week to Black History week before it was institutionalized and then expanded in 1976 to include concentrated activities during all of February. The aim of the celebration remains to stimulate the study of Black history and culture throughout the entire year.
WWOZ is your listener-sponsored community radio station. During our forty years with you we have been a proud celebrant of Black history and culture. We have used our platform to globally transmit the history and culture of the Black world experience through music. Of course, we feature the musical culture of New Orleans as a pivotal site of world culture. For 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year our on-air music programming embraces a spectrum of Black music expression, including gospel, jazz (traditional, modern, and contemporary), zydeco, Mardi Gras Indian, R&B, soul, and more. Commentary and analysis from our show hosts and invited guest performers and speakers help to frame how we hear and enjoy the music, and the culture it represents. Beyond the station, our staff, volunteers, and partners engage in a range of projects aimed at educating and strengthening, as well as entertaining, our communities.
WWOZ, additionally, has chronicled the unfolding of Black music experience in our archives. Our archives are a collection of shows recorded on air, of audio and visual recordings of artists' stellar performances (in studio and remote from festivals, concert halls, and clubs), of illuminating interviews and lectures, and of significant historical documents. These valuable holdings at the Archive of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation are accessible to the lay public as well as to musicians. scholars, and students.
This year, WWOZ again honors Black musical culture and the people who have made and lived it. We rededicate ourselves -- and encourage you -- to celebrate the making of Black history, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Al Colón Ph.D.
WWOZ show host, Jazz From the French Market, 4-7 pm Thursdays
