September is Gospel Music Heritage Month!

To celebrate, this site will… well, there’s going to be a conference on… wait, no… an awards show will honor…

Nevermind. September is Gospel Music Heritage Month and, every year, very little is done to celebrate it. I’m chiefly guilty of it– I think I may have attempted to begin thinking about doing something a couple of years back.

A bit of background… the country has been celebrating Gospel Music Heritage Month since 2008, after Congress passed legislation acknowledging September as the month to honor gospel music. The initiative was spearheaded by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) and the National Recording Academy for Arts & Sciences, Gospel Music Channel (now known as gmc) and the Gospel Music Association.

But did you even know it was Heritage Month? Do you support or celebrate it?

I bet you’re not among the 864 people who “like” its official Facebook fan page, nor are you among the 37 people who follow its official Twitter profile (don’t feel bad, I just learned of it as I wrote this). And I know you don’t visit the GospelMusicHeritage.com website, which now simply redirects to the homepage of gmc, the organization that hosted the web address as the movement grew.

Ok, it’s not completely as desolate as I’m making it seem.

At the top of this month, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts hosted its 3rd annual “Evolution of Gospel” celebration in honor of Heritage Month. With a “Kennedy Center Honors…” type of vibe, the night honored the contributions of Dr. Bobby Jones, Cathy Hughes and First Lady Michelle Obama, who was unable to attend. The evening featured performances by Kirk Franklin, Richard Smallwood, Marvin Sapp and more.

And Heritage Month’s social media properties are hinting at some OFFICIAL event taking place in Houston, TX this month, though they haven’t announced a date or location.

My thought is that, because the gospel music community does not have an official, unified trade organization representing it, there is no group charged with really celebrating anything in it, including Heritage Month. Plenty of organizations– from SAGMA to GMWA, GMA to BMI, NARAS to various acronyms in between– have done their part to honor the music and culture, but these groups are often overworked and understaffed, with other primary corporate objectives. Their celebrations are splintered across the country and across the calendar year. Who can plan a month’s worth of unified gospel music activities?!

Again, this is not a knock against anyone– GospelPundit.com hasn’t exactly been the hub of Heritage Month features, trivia and giveaways. I tend to tell myself “ahhh, next year!”

But my observations do raise the question– we don’t really celebrate Gospel Music Heritage Month, do we?

If you agree, fine. If you disagree, tell me where the party is and let’s have at it.

Either way, I think we all need to do a bit more.

Check your local PBS listings to catch In Performance At The White House: A Celebration Of Music From The Civil Rights Movement TONIGHT (in most cities, at 8pm ET/7pm CST).

Yolanda Adams was among those fortunate enough to sing before President Obama in the Civil Rights concert celebration.  She performed Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” to an audience in the White House’s East Room.  PBS has already posted some of the performances on YouTube.

Personally, I’m not thrilled with the song choice– I generally think of this song as one intended for a gravely male voice, not a pure, clean and soaring voice like Yolanda’s.  But after just a short time, she definitely captivated the audience with her sound and her message.  Something about the tune even made Mr. President snuggle up with the Mrs. about 1 minute in (I just LOVE them!).

Other performances came from Jennifer Hudson & Smokey Robinson (“People Get Ready” – click here to watch it), the Blind Boys Of Alabama, Bob Dylan, Seal, Natalie Cole and more.

It looks like the same house band that played last year when Mary Mary performed at The White House in tribute to Stevie Wonder (which would also be the house band of American Idol).  Musical direction is coming from Rickey Minor and I think I spotted Teddy Campbell (husband of Tina Campbell, from Mary Mary) on the drums.  So, you see… all things come back to Mary Mary. LOL

Okay, tune in tonight to catch the full performance.  I’m just thrilled that President Obama hosts so many great concerts and parties… wonder why he didn’t invite me… must’ve gotten lost in the mail.  It’s cool.

Word has it that Central City Productions (production company of the Stellar Awards) are planning to launch a new venture– the Stellar Awards Mother’s Day Gospel Music Festival.  The first such event is scheduled for May 7-9, 2010 in Orlando, FL.

Apparently, the special invited guest speaker is First Lady Michelle Obama.  Several musical guests have been invited, including Yolanda Adams, Donnie McClurkin, Mary Mary, The Clark Sisters, Byron Cage, Hezekiah Walker, Kirk Franklin… a little of everyone, but none yet confirmed.

I mean… I think it’s nice to see Central City branching out, but I dunno if people are gonna travel to Orlando for a Mother’s Day weekend.  First of all, the holiday is so near and dear to everyone’s heart that most people try to spend that time with family.  Ideally, I guess folks could bring their mothers to Florida for it, but who has money for all of that?  Flight, hotel, concert tickets for you and yo’ mama…

Maybe I’m wrong, though.

Would YOU go?