In the United States, the month of March is dedicated to honoring Women’s History Month. Throughout the monthlong celebration, the US government, business corporations, schools, neighborhoods, and individuals commemorate and encourage the study, observance, and celebration of the vital role of women in American history.
To honor our mothers, sisters, aunties, and daughters, the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) is offering a complimentary matriarchal DNA test kit when you renew or become a contributing level member of NMAAM. Through our partnership at AfricanAncestry.com, you can discover your African roots with an easy and secure cheek swab and a new NMAAM membership.
Join our Patron ($500), Benefactor ($1,000), or Society-level ($5,000+) memberships and gain access to exclusive benefits including special event invitations, tailored curatorial talks, and unlimited access to the premier global destination for music lovers of all generations.
At NMAAM, we believe LEGENDS LIVE FOREVER through their acclaimed musicianship and artistry, iconic representation of Black culture, and global reach and impact on communities throughout the diaspora. Read below how soulful, songstress Nina Simone embraced Africa as a refuge for freedom.
Nina Simone captured the sentiments of many Black people with her songs, “Four Women,” and “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black.” She captured these sentiments furthermore in her revolutionary song, “Mississippi Goddam,” which placed her squarely in the center of controversy and danger. In response, the renowned singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil-rights activist moved to Monrovia, Liberia. Ms. Simone was able to find refuge in Africa. Her friends, Langston Hughes and Malcom X, were dead, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale were in jail, and she had contemplated whether or not her activism had been in vain. But Africa was a land where she found the freedom that eluded her in America. As quoted by Ms. Simone in a radio interview recorded from Monrovia, “I am keenly aware that I’ve entered a world that I had dreamed of all my life, and that it is a perfect world. -AfricanAncestry.com
