Celebrating Our Sound: Music Icon Dyana Williams and the Making of Black Music Month
Dyana Williams is a Philly music legend. Actually, she’s a music legend everywhere, but if you’re from Philly (and we are), you not only know the name, you know the vibes. Arriving in Philadelphia after deejaying in her native New York and Washington D.C., where she was known for a time as “Ebony Moonbeams,” Williams established the popular radio show “Love on the Menu” for radio station WDAS and later Soulful Sundays for Classix 107.9. The latter show lasting for 12 years before signing off for the last time in 2020.
Even with her luminous on-air career, Dyana’s contributions behind the scenes have been even more impactful. Formerly married to music producer Kenny Gamble of Gamble & Huff, Williams has long been associated with the “Sound of Philadelphia,” which included such icons as Patti LaBelle, McFadden & Whitehead, Teddy Pendergrass, and more. Dyana has produced documentaries, founded and led organizations and mentored countless emerging artists, a passion that she continues to pursue.
“We are trendsetters,” she says plainly, describing the cultural and historical importance of Black music to the world. From Gospel, Jazz, and the Blues to R&B, Hip-Hop and even Country and Rock’n’Roll, African American music has not only reflected the many dimensions of the Black American experience – from romance to protest – it is and has been big business, spawning several global phenomena and billions of dollars, both of which Dyana is quick to call attention to.
But perhaps her most lasting gift to us is her role in the founding of “Black Music Month.” Its initial recognition in 1979 was the beginning of a process that Dyana would continue to shepherd until it was written into law by congress and proclaimed, first by President Bill Clinton in 2000 and again by President Barack Obama in 2009 and 2016. For all of these reasons, Dyana Williams’ contributions to Black Music will live on forever, and every June, Black Music Month will give us an opportunity to celebrate and remember all that our music means to us..
We were delighted to sit down with this icon of Philadelphia radio and tireless advocate for Black music culture to talk about the creation of Black Music Month, why it still matters, and in light of all that our community has endured in the past year, who she feels is making the music we need to keep us going right now.
ACM: We're so excited to speak with you for Black Music Month to learn more about how it came together because it’s such an amazing story and so important for us today. To start with, tell us about the Black Music Association. How did the organization come together and what was its purpose?
DW: The Black Music Association was created by Kenny Gamble after a visit to Nashville Music City, which is known as a country music capital. And he felt that something could be done similarly in terms of organizing members of the music industry community to come together to show, not only our cultural contributions to America's indigenous music, but the economic impact of African American music throughout the world. And so the Black Music Association was established. It was a wonderful aggregation of radio personalities, artists, everybody from Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, Dionne Warwick, Teddy Pendergrass, all of the artists of the day as well as the songwriters, producers, retailers, educators…It was just a wonderful entity of people who were like-minded and coming out of the creative culture of producing Black music.
So that was the birth of the black Music Association in 1978. Credit to Kenny Gamble, and a group of other people. I was a member. We were a couple at that time. We have three children and a six-and-a-half-year-old grandson now, but much like the two of you working together, Gamble and I did the same thing because we were committed to letting the world know that Black music isn't just to feel-good. It permeates every aspect of our culture — language, fashion dance… Black music is the flavor of the planet, not to discount other genres of music. But that was the beginning. And Gamble and I were proud parents. It was the birth of hours of discussion, of dreaming, planning and wanting to see a coalition of togetherness and unity in the Black music industry. And for a period, it was a very powerful entity that did a lot with the Black music and various record companies and in communities around the United States.
ACM: When was the first recognition of Black Music Month, and what was it like?
DW: On June 7, 1979, President Jimmy Carter, at the request of the Black Music Association, hosted a grand picnic on the South Lawn of the White House, with performances by Billy Eckstine, Chuck Berry, Evelyn Champagne King, and others. Clarence Avant, known as “The Godfather” in the music industry, was very instrumental in getting us into the White House. He was very politically connected and made the initial call. Obviously, they were receptive, they held a reception on the picnic on the grounds of the South Lawn for over 200 people and invited members of the Black Music Association to attend. I had the honor of sitting with the President and Mrs. Carter. And as we know, President Carter grew up in the south, and he loved Black music. Initially he was sitting at the picnic table with us. Then he went and sat on the ground with his wife and daughter. But before the performance ended, he was sitting on the stage, clapping his hands and nodding his head. Then he stood up, and he was clapping and getting in the spirit of the gospel music. It was a great event. It was warm, down to earth and very much in the style of President Jimmy Carter. If you go to my Twitter timeline, I’ve posted the only existing footage from that day. And I'm working with an editor to form it into a short film of that day and the origins of Black Music Month.
ACM: A lot of people know that you were instrumental in the creation of Black Music Month, but may not know that “instrumental” went as far as you going door-to-door, lobbying members of Congress, or that you wrote the original draft of the bill that passed in 2000. What compelled you to stay the course from 1979 to 2000, because it must have been an unimaginable amount of work?
DW: Very good question. And very true. I started a non-membership organization called the International Association of African American Music at the advice of some of the leaders of the Black Music Association. We produced music conferences for 16 consecutive years. And at one point, we decided to go to Washington D.C. and hold our annual June Black Music Month celebration there. I wrote President Clinton in the White House asking them to host a similar reception as Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter had in 1979. So the White House comes back to me and says, “Well, we see where President Carter did say June is Black Music Month. But he didn't sign a presidential proclamation.” So The White House told me get some legislation passed. They said, “Come back to us with that and we'll set up a meeting with you and the President in the Oval Office.” I was like, “Wow, really? Yeah, I grew up in the Bronx, in Harlem. What do I know about lobbying?” I didn’t know anything. But I knew a lot about being passionate about our culture and Black folks and our music. So my little passionate, letter writing self reached out to local congressman Chaka Fattah; I reached out to Republican senator Arlen Specter; and I had meetings with them. And I told them, “I need you to write a letter on my behalf for black music to be recognized by the president and in Congress.” And so it took several years of me, literally going door-to-door, not even making appointments, just walking into people's offices. I didn't know anything about the process of lobbying. All I knew was that I needed to garner support. So congressman Chaka Fattah, the democratic congressman in Philadelphia at that time, was super helpful. And he is the person who introduced the actual draft that I had written and submitted to his people.
The legislation essentially identified that Black music is America's own, created here, primarily by Black folks, and that it was a multibillion dollar business. And that is what is important to me and to us, in the Black music community, to have it recognized that, yeah, you tap your toes, and dance and clap and snap your fingers to our music, but at the end of the day, this is something created out of the anguish, the suffering, and the joy and love that Black people experience. It is the cries of the field hollers. It's the gospel music in the churches where we congregated together to celebrate God and pray for deliverance from the oppression of enslavement. It's Muddy Waters, it's BB King. And it's all of the great artists who are, were and are expressing —Frankie Beverly and Maze say it so well — the joy and pain of being Black in America. And it continues to this day. So in 2000, I get a phone call, saying the congressman is introducing the legislation and then a few hours later, they called and said that it had passed unanimously in the House. And at that point, the White House called and invited me to a private meeting in the Oval Office with Bill Clinton. And I actually had two meetings in the Oval Office with the President. And from that point on every American president has acknowledged it as well.
ACM: So what can people do to celebrate Black Music Month right now?
DW: People — and I want to go on the record: this is not just for Black people— can do a lot. I was with some white people yesterday, the editor of a magazine, and I wished him a happy Black Music Month because he is a supporter and consumer of Black music too. So what can people do? People can sit with their elders and their family and talk to them about the music they grew up listening to. They can read books. My grandson's coming over tomorrow to spend the weekend. I have a whole library of books for him — many of them about Black people, and he’s six-and-a-half. Buy the music of the Black artists that you love and support. Streaming is now the way many young people are consuming their music. Go to any of the the streaming services and listen to the music because that is revenue for the songwriters and artists. Now with COVID dying down and people getting vaccinated live concerts are coming back, go — safely — to a live show, support the writers, musicians, producers, and people that create this music. So there are many ways that one can engage. Write your child's teacher and say, “You know, it’s Black Music Month. What can we do to engage around that?” This month it is an opportunity for us during the days in the month of June to celebrate the contributions of past generations. The foundation mothers and fathers of Black music as well as celebrating this generation of artists, and music-makers and creatives that are still doing it with great success.
ACM: There's been so much coming out in movies and documentaries about Black music. We have documentaries on Nina Simone and Sam Cooke, movies on Billie Holliday, Aretha Franklin and Mahalia Jackson, etc. We've seen so much about iconic Black musicians and the price that they paid for their honesty. Do you see that same bravery, the willingness to tell the truth for the sake of the people, in today's artists? And who if anyone stands out to you for the statements that they're making with their music right now?
DW: Those are all courageous artists. Back in the day, there was Harry Belafonte. I mean, the list is long of creatives and artists who used their platform. Even Sammy Davis, who was later criticized for his support of Richard Nixon, he was very active before he made those statements. You do have a group of people, of artists, who are vocal about consciousness and our community solidarity. The first one who comes to mind is Beyoncé. She is Blackity Black, Black. You saw her performance at the Super Bowl when she came out with the Black Panther outfit. Beyoncé has used her platform as has her sister Solange, singing, “Don't Touch My Hair,” and so on. They clearly indicate the racism and the divide in our American society. Jay Cole, Nas — the list is long of artists who are conscious, who use their platforms as highly visible and audible individuals to bring messages of struggle, perseverance and love.
ACM: Since the founding of the Black Music Association and then Black Music Month, is there anything you think our music has lost or gained? What message would you like to give to those who are coming up in music now about why their work is important to the community?
DW: Black music is a constantly evolving energy entity. First, because Black people are not monolithic. There are some people who are critical of Hip Hop and some of its imagery. That has always existed. When Chuck Berry and Little Richard came out, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a Black woman coming out of the church in Philadelphia, playing rock and roll and the electric guitar — parents were clutching their pearls. Now a lot of people are saying that R&B is dead. It’s not dead. It’s being reimagined by young people of this time. And we shouldn’t be so critical and negative about it because it's not what we are accustomed to. Instead, the question is how do we celebrate these young artists, how do we applaud them and support them? I love this generation of artists. I love the creativity that exists. Some people are really super talented. And then you've got those that are not so much but still get hit records because they have their finger on the pulse of dance or styling or some of those other elements that people are attracted to.
I’ll say one more thing. I’m on the board of the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tennessee. It's a museum 22 years in the making. It's 56,000-square-feet of seven galleries that take us from the 1600s all the way up to right now. It is incredible, and I want to encourage people to come, visit and become members (we have all levels of membership). This is a museum for us, by us and it is an amazing, beautiful institution that celebrates music and culture, America's indigenous music, our soundtrack to our lives. You can learn more about us at blackmusicmuseum.com or nmaam.org.
AphroChic Black Music Month Now Shining Stars Playlist Curated by Dyana WilliamsPick Up Your Feelings, Jazmine Sullivan
Leave the Door Open, Silk Sonic: R&B duo composed of Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak.
Mystery Lady, Masego
Overgrown , Joyce Wrice
Don’t Keep Me Waiting, Kwesi Arthur (featuring Kidi)
Damage, H.E.R.
Sementes, Rael, Negra Li
Hold Me Close, Kelontae Gavin
Sorry Don’t Work No More, Brittney Spencer
Write Your Own Bible, Idia Gamble
Listen to the full playlist on AphroChic’s Spotify
