Crank up the volume, y’all! It’s time to turn up for Black Music Month.

All June long, we’ll be drilling in this truth: Black music is American music. Many legends helped shape the sound blessing our airwaves today. Evidence is in the accolades. We’ve been crowned royalty in multiple genres. Tina Turner – Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Aretha Franklin – Queen of Soul. Michael Jackson – King of Pop. B.B. King – King of Blues. Sun Ra – father of Afrofuturism before the term even existed. These icons inspired the voices dominating billboard charts: Think Beyoncé, Lizzo and Janelle Monáe. And let us not forget that this year we celebrate 50 years of Hip Hop.

There have been many Black legends who didn’t get their flowers until after their lifetime, which stresses Black Music Month’s importance. So slip this newsletter to your friends and fam as we celebrate the healing melodies of Gospel music – and another milestone for Black Joy as well 🥳.

– Starr

Songs of salvation and jubilation

Turn to your neighbor and say, “Black Joy got itself a podcast!”

We’re expanding our media empire with the launch of Black Joy Archive, where we’ll explore the different ways we access joy across the African diaspora. Season one focuses on our Gospel choir series, which touches on our personal connection to the music that made our Grandma, auntie and nem’ shout in praise and catch the Holy Ghost.

We get that not everyone’s church experience was pleasant. Many of us faced the hellfire of judgment in our own sanctuaries, forcing us to nurture a spiritual connection within ourselves after leaving the church. We honor our readers who experienced that trauma and hold you in love. Real talk: those folks who tried to hold you down weren’t living the word of God like they thought they were.

It’s also hard to ignore the Black church’s role in American music. Many vocal legends — Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Little Richard to name a few — discovered their voices in the choir stands. The sounds that define the Black church helped birth the jazz, soul and R&B bops we vibe to today.

Join us over the next few Fridays as Black Joy editor Minda Honey chats with the Black Joy team about the music that sustained us and our ancestors, the gems we discovered during our reporting and our take on the future of Gospel music. The first episode is out today, and features Black Joy reporter Dani B. who talks about how Gospel music became songs of survival for herself and the other Black women in her church. Listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple, Megaphone or your favorite podcast app.

Break every chain and trauma cycle

If ya’ looking to break strongholds of trauma in your family, I got a treat for y’all. Or I guess it’s better to say I got the tea.

It’s the drink of choice for Dr. Mariel Buqué, world-renowned intergenerational trauma expert and author of the forthcoming book “Break The Cycle.” Sis chatted with me about the neurological benefits of Black sacred music. You know all that hootin’ and hollerin’ and jumping and clapping and humming we experience while enjoying the ecstatic showmanship of a gospel choir? Yeah, all of that isn’t just to break a sweat for the Lord. We’re actually recalibrating our nervous systems and restructuring the parts of the brain that were affected by intergenerational trauma.

Black sacred music includes the many ways we celebrate the Black spirtual experience through song from negro spirituals on up to today’s gospel hits. So in a way, our ancestors have been passing down the tools to break free from the bondage of oppression. Which is why Buqué encourages us to not only focus on the ways oppression affected us, but also how we can create generational abundance by listening to our ancestors.

“We can’t talk about generational healing without talking about the immeasurable resilience that has also been passed down, which has been exemplified in the ongoing confrontation of institutions that have perpetually traumatized us and reflected in the deliberate joy we have chosen to embody despite it all,” Buqué said.

Head over to our site to read this mind blowing piece ‘cause Dr. Buqué really gives us the power to say, “The cycle ends with me.” And that’s one period, exclamation point and all the extravagant punctuation marks!

What’s your flava?

Fight off the heat of summer with a delicious treat from Black Joy and Cajou Creamery. The Baltimore-based, Black-owned ice cream shop is helping us craft a plant-based ice cream flavor that embodies the sweet tradition and rich culture of Black joy. We’re asking our audience to vote on a flavor.

Voting ends June 15th and the winning flavor will be sold both online and in store. Also be on the lookout for giveaways and a Black-joy-themed ice cream party in a city near you 🍨.

Help a sister out

Quick sidenote: The Supreme Court could soon rule on a student loan forgiveness plan and Black graduates who’ve taken on debt to pay for higher education will likely be the most impacted.

Minda found that many Black men with student loans cited their debt as one of the reasons they didn’t feel ready for marriage. It can be hard to start a life and even more difficult to see a future with student debt hanging over your head. And it’s even worse for Black women, who are statistically found to take on the most student loans of any demographic. If student loans are dragging you down, we want to hear about your experience. Fill out this Google form (it can be completely anonymous) to share your story – so we can tell ‘em why y’all mad!

Lift every voice by spreading the Black joy. See ya’ next time!