Given recent events, I debated whether to follow through with this new, lighter, summer spin-off of my February #BlackHistoryIsAmericanHistory project. My heart is shattered, my blood is molten, and there is no describing the exhaustion of generations in my bones.

But there’s also no denying that my greatest comfort and our most perfect human harmony has always been found in music.

So maybe there’s truly no better time than the present for my June project, “Sound in Color.”

Jimmy Carter observed the first “Black Music Month” in June 1979, but in a 2016 proclamation, Barack Obama revisited June as “African-American Music Appreciation Month.” He eloquently described our music as a lifeblood for this country, along with the impact it’s left along the way:

“Songs by African-American musicians span the breadth of the human experience and resonate in every corner of our Nation — animating our bodies, stimulating our imaginations, and nourishing our souls. In the ways they transform real stories about real people into art, these artists speak to universal human emotion and the restlessness that stirs within us all. African-American music helps us imagine a better world, and it offers hope that we will get there together.

This month, we celebrate the music that reminds us that our growth as a Nation and as people is reflected in our capacity to create great works of art. Let us recognize the performers behind this incredible music, which has compelled us to stand up — to dance, to express our faith through song, to march against injustice, and to defend our country’s enduring promise of freedom and opportunity for all.”

In the spirit of that jubilance, defiance and devotion President Obama described, I invite you to listen with me, maybe learn a little, definitely dance a lot, and hopefully discover new music to love along the way.

“Sound in Color” will run at least twice a day in June: one fam-friendly tune for the early afternoon before the adult content later that night. True to the project’s name, each selection is not just for your ears, but will treat you to the visual arts through our eyes as well.

Music and protest are profoundly entwined in the African-American experience, so while we’re already raising our collective voices, it’d be a shame not to use them to sing.

𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗥 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗜𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗥 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟬 | 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗜𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗥 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟬