By Julia Train
The Rhythm and Blues Preservation Society in Atlantic City is a nonprofit that creates and promotes events to educate the public about black music and its history, and to preserve its legacy.
It was founded in December of 2018 by Perry Thompson with the goal of going to colleges and universities across the country to host “educational programming on music historically rooted in the western African Diaspora.”
“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a number of years… It’s not about how many records you sold or how many awards you’ve won,” said Thompson. “If you have contributed to black music culture in any aspect, whether you’re an artist, a producer [or] a journalist, we honor you. We honor those who really don’t get the recognition that they deserve.”
Thompson’s parents were avid collectors of black music so he grew up listening to rhythm and blues, jazz, reggae, Latin soul and funk rock, and graduated from a high school for music and performing arts in New York City.
His music background inspired him to start the nonprofit because he knows how music influences youth and wanted to teach them how important black music is for black culture and history.
The nonprofit has visited Atlantic Cape Community College, Stockton University and Rutgers Camden with its events, which include lectures and panels.
Its “This Day in Music Classroom Lecture,” is a 30-60 minute lecture session that spotlights a day in black music history of a celebrity or a monumental day, followed by a question-and-answer session in a classroom setting with a surprise celebrity guest. They also host a panel of celebrities, music industry professionals and community leaders to discuss a topic pertaining to a black culture topic.
“Conversations in Music” is a 30-60-minute interview session about celebrities and music professionals who have contributed to black music history with a Q&A session.
In February 2022, for Black History Month, the nonprofit started an international library curation campaign to get universities and colleges nationwide to carry books on black music at their libraries. They continued the campaign in June for Black Music Month and again this February and plan to for this June.
Thompson is currently working on a few different projects. He’s working with Realtors and government officials to create a physical cultural center in Atlantic City for youth to preserve black music culture.
He also hopes to get black music history added to school curricula both nationwide and globally, as well as creating Rhythm and Blues Preservation Society chapters all over the country by 2030.
He’s organizing a Black Music Month independent artist showcase in June to spotlight independent artists from both the Atlantic City area and from as far as Philadelphia and New York.
Those interested in knowing more can visit their Instagram @acrbpsoc.
