For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 29, 2001
Remarks by the President
In Honor of Black Music Month the East Room
3:20 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Please be
seated. Well, thank you all very much, and welcome to the
White House, the people's house. It is my honor today to
sign a proclamation celebrating Black Music Month, and also to welcome
some of the finest entertainers in America to the people's
room. (Applause.) People who brought a lot of joy and heart
and energy to the American scene. Folks who have enriched our
country's culture. And so, Laura and I welcome you
here. And thank you for coming.
I also want to thank Debbie Allen, our MC, who
will be making sure that -- (applause.) And the members of
Congress who are here. I want to thank our entertainers who
are going to entertain today who are here. I want to thank
some of the entertainers who entertained me who are here -- James
Brown, the Four Tops -- (applause.)
We're honoring all-stars today. I
want to welcome the student honorees, Danielle Weatherford, Regina de
Ocampo, and Lauren Dawson, who are here on the stage with
me. I want to thank you all for being here.
(Applause.) I want to thank Kenneth Gamble and Leon
Huff. (Applause.) I want to welcome
representatives of the industry, producers and directors who are here,
as well. Thank you all for coming.
This is an appropriate place to host an event,
right here in the East Room, because so many of the world's great
artists have preceded us. And we're also welcoming the
talent of a new generation who I just introduced.
Let me talk about some of the music legends
who are here on the stage. First, I'm so thankful that Shirley Caesar
and Bobby Jones are here. (Applause.) Their voices are a
part of a ministry that has had a profound effect on people's
lives. It is fitting we honor gospel music in the White
House and in our country. (Applause.)
Lena Horne and Nancy Wilson are honorees, and
they are unable to join us today. But they sang some sweet
music for the American people. (Applause.) And finally,
Lionel Hampton is here, and it's such an honor.
(Applause.) Laura and I are honored to welcome him to
Washington, just like Harry and Bess Truman did, when he played at
their inaugural ball in 1949. The Johnsons, the Nixons and
the Reagans all invited Lionel here as well. Presidents come
and go, but there's only one "Vibes" President of the United
States. (Applause.)
Lionel Hampton is an old friend of our
family's, going all the way back to my dad's boyhood. On a
couple of occasions, he and my grandfather did a few numbers
together. My grandfather was quite a singer, as Lionel would
tell you. And, as Laura would tell you, the gene pool didn't
spread this far. (Laughter.)
A lot of other greats have passed through the
White House, including America's ambassador of goodwill, Louis
Armstrong. (Applause.) In this room, Pearl Bailey
was introduced to Mikhail Gorbachev by Ronald Reagan, who said, simply,
"This is our Pearl." (Laughter.) Eubie Blake
played ragtime piano on the South Lawn. And these
chandeliers, I can assure you, trembled when Ella Fitzgerald sang
here. (Applause.) It was here that Duke Ellington
received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was a fitting tribute
to the son of a White House butler. (Applause.)
Today we pay homage to an American tradition,
a tradition that only America could have
produced. Spirituals, jazz, R&B, hip-hop are performed,
heard and loved in every part of the world -- every part of the
world. But they belong to our country in a unique
way. And as the President of this country, I'm proud to
herald that uniqueness today. (Applause.)
You trace the roots of black American music,
you arrive at the same place -- with the people held in bondage, denied
schooling and kept away from opportunity. Yet, out of all
that suffering came the early spirituals, some of the sweetest praise
ever lifted up to heaven. In those songs, humanity will
always hear the voice of hope in the face of injustice.
Since those early days, the music of black
Americans has told many other stories, in many other
styles: Scott Joplin to Jellyroll Morton; from Marion
Anderson to Aretha Franklin; from Nat King Cole to the Neville
Brothers; from Dizzy Gillespie to Sam Cook; Kathleen Battle to Gladys
Knight, from James Brown to the Four
Tops. (Applause.) It is music that is always easy
to enjoy, yet impossible to imitate.
Stories told about Louis Armstrong -- someone
came up to the legendary giant one day and asked him to define
jazz. They wanted to understand it, so they came to the
master, himself. And he replied, "Man, if you've got to ask,
you'll never know." (Laughter.)
Well, there's some things I know
today. I know America is a richer place for the musicians
and the music that we honor today. Again, I welcome you to
the White House. And it's now my honor to sign the executive
proclamation. (Applause.)
END
3:27 P.M. EDT
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