The National Museum of African American Music Is Worth the Wait NMAAM invests heavily in telling the full story of Black music Tweet
Photo: Daniel Meigs
When word surfaced more than two decades ago that a National Museum of African American Music was being planned for Nashville, reactions ranged from quizzical to skeptical. The idea was even ridiculed in some sectors of the music journalism and criticism community, as well as among some fans, scholars and lovers of various Black musical idioms. “Nashville, not Memphis?” was one of the recurring comments I heard from colleagues. A second: “That’s not a Black music town.” A third, lesser complaint was that NMAAM wouldn’t get the publicity and recognition it deserves in a city best known as a recording and publishing hotbed of country music.