Updated February 19, 2021
Thank you to Josh Alfonzo, Music Impact Network member from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tarrant County for your help in compiling these resources.
Educational Resources
- AfricanAmericanHistoryMonth.gov
- Anti-Defamation League
- The Black Music History Library (VERY comprehensive)
- Boys & Girls Clubs of America Club Experience Blog – Ideas For Black History Month
- Celebrate Black History Month With NPR (Spotify Podcast playlist)
- Celebrating The Black Women Guitarists Who Made Music History
- Center for Racial Justice in Education
- Education.com
- Google Doodle – 44th Anniversary of the Birth of Hip Hop (interactive!)
- National Association for Music Education
- NPR – Celebrating Black History Month At The Tiny Desk
- Scholastic.com
- Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture
- TeachRock – #BLACKLIVESMATTER: MUSIC IN A MOVEMENT (Classroom lesson plans)
- Universal Hip Hop Museum – Hip-Hop Education Center
Video Resources
Note: Some services require a subscription. Check TV and Movies ratings to determine age-appropriateness
- Amazon Prime Video Resources:
- Free Meek
- Hitsville: The Making of Motown
- James Brown – Mr Dynamite: The Rise Of James Brown
- Nas, Live from the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra
- Nas: Time is Illmatic
- One Night in Miami… (fictional)
- Sam Cooke Legend
- Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap
- Thunder Soul
- Whitney: Can I Be Me
- Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men
- Hulu Video Resources:
- Netflix Video Resources:
- YouTube Video Resources:
- Hip Hop: The Songs That Shook America
- Music History Is Black History (Reverb.com)
- My Mic Sounds Nice: The Truth About Women And Hip Hop
- Sound Field – Jazz Shaped Hip-Hop, but How Has Hip-Hop Impacted Jazz?
- Voices of Black Creativity (YouTube Black History Month Playlist)
Audio Resources
- Apple Music’s Black History Month Playlist
- Spotify’s Black History Month Playlist
- Youtube’s Black History Month Playlist
—
- “I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel to Be Free)” – by Nina Simone
- “Selma March” – by Grant Green
- “We Shall Overcome” – by Larry Goldings
- “Alabama” – by John Coltrane
- “Change Gonna Come” – by Sam Cooke
- “Lift Every Voice And Sing” – by Hank Crawford and Jimmy McGriff
- “Oh Freedom!” – by The Golden Gospel Singers
- “People Get Ready” – by The Impressions
- “Strange Fruit” – by Billie Holiday
- “The Times They Are A Changin” – by Bob Dylan
- “We Shall Not Be Moved” – by Mavis Staples
If you have a music themed Black History Month resource or project to share, please post it on the Music Impact Network Facebook Group and we’ll add it to the list.
- Need a more descriptive project idea? Try these: