Margaret Renkl wrote the following
in the New
York TImes about The National Museum of African American
Music on the occasion of its opening January 18, 2021:
"It is a 56,000-square-foot
tribute to the makers of the first music that was truly American
— “one nation under a groove,” as the museum’s tagline puts
it in a nod to the George Clinton song. Beginning with the musical
traditions of enslaved people, its interactive exhibits celebrate
the brilliant legacy that has followed the first Black Americans
through more than 50 musical genres and subgenres — classical,
country, gospel, jazz, blues and hip-hop, just for starters
— during the past 400 years. According to the museum’s website,
no other museum with this purpose exists in the world."
"A 15-minute orientation
film in the museum’s Roots Theater gives a brief overview of
the evolution of Black music in America as it unfolded: “We
wanted to tell a chronological story of American music, rather
than a genre-driven or an artist-driven story,” said Mr. Hicks.After
leaving the theater, visitors can explore five interactive galleries,
each extending outward from a semicircular corridor that conveys
the 400-year timeline of African-American music."
The 400-year timeline of
African-American music
William DeShazer for The
New York Times
William DeShazer for The
New York Times
Research Library
