Black Music Month: What's Your Cleaning Playlist?

When I told my college-aged daughter that June is Black Music Month, she said, "That's not a thing."

Before I could fix my face to tell her how wrong she was, she saved herself by saying, "Black music is all year. It's everywhere. What is music without us?"

Much better, lil girl.

That conversation got me thinking about the power of music and how Black folks from my generation (Gen X) spent Saturday mornings doing the same thing: Cleaning. More specifically, cleaning with music blasting from the stereo, radio or boom box.

My mother was not the type to dictate what we listened to. That edict belonged to my father, a former jazz musician. Because of him, we heard all the greats from a young age: Basie, Monk, Gillespie, Parker. He died just as I was reaching my teen years, and after that, the stereo and playlists belonged to me and my siblings.

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If we wanted to watch "Soul Train" by lunch, we needed to clean the bathroom, clean our rooms, gather our laundry, sweep the floor and dust.

Enter Saturday morning: If we wanted to watch "Soul Train" by lunch, we needed to clean the bathroom, clean our rooms, gather our laundry, sweep the floor and dust. My mother handled the kitchen because we "never did it right." Out came the Comet, the vinegar, the ammonia or Pine-Sol and the Pledge. We never argued with her about cleaning (what was the point?). But we argued with each other about the stereo.

The floor system with glass door belonged to my older sister because she had a full-time job and was the one who bought the thing (and most of the records). I always wanted Michael Jackson or New Edition. She wanted Rick James or Atlantic Starr. My brothers wanted Earth, Wind & Fire or Kool & the Gang. Looking back, what was there to argue about? They were – and still are – all great.

Are Saturday morning playlists (or cleaning playlists in general) obsolete now? Was Gen X the last generation to have this ritual? We'd love to hear from you.

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