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The Be’la Donas are an all-female Go-go group.
February is a time for acknowledging and celebrating the grit and contributions of African Americans to the development of America as we know it today. Throughout the month, we embrace African heritage whilst empowering newer generations as they navigate throughout the world to continue to pursue Black excellence. African Americans have influenced modern American culture in innumerable ways, such as fashion, beauty standards and music. Music is used as a form of self-expression and to grapple with the lived Black experience in America.
Go-go is Washington DC’s official music, a genre that is a melting pot of all different types of primarily black music such as jazz, blues, R&B and hip-hop. The Be’la Donas, who visited Sidwell on February 26, are an all-female Go-go group that aims to continue promoting the genre, working towards the goals of educating the community on the resilient history of African Americans, bringing people together and teaching them how to have a good time.
Music has played a universal and integral role in the development of human cultures but has been even more prevalent within the African American community, especially due to slavery within the country. When their ancestors were first stolen from their lands by Europeans during the Age of Discovery, they were stripped of their identities and freedom, demeaned and dehumanized to work as slaves in the new world. As a way for Africans to rebel against their enslavers, they sang to preserve their culture. It was also used in the deep South as a way for enslaved African Americans to communicate and coordinate calculated plans to escape to the North without getting caught while working on the plantations. Go-go music incorporates these experiences by combining these different expressions of the injustices of being black into a retro afro-funk. The Be’la Dona are working towards broadening Go-go music’s reach within the United States, believing in the gravity of the messages of struggle and strife within the black community as they continue to evolve through the traumas of their past.
According to the National Black MBA Association, “The history of Go-go music in Washington, D.C., is a testament to the power of community and cultural expression. From its humble beginnings in the 1970s to its status as the city’s official music, Go-go has left an indelible mark on the nation’s capital.”
While the Be’la Donas described their style as a “sensual crank” in an interview with the Kennedy Center, they also try to utilize the Go-go genre to touch on more soulful tunes tackling social injustices and inequality.
“It became a voice for the African American community in D.C., addressing social and political issues through its lyrics,” NBMA stated.
As an all-female group from African American backgrounds, the Be’la Donas set an example of how one can leverage their truth and utilize their experiences for the good of others. The group is an inspiration to both the Go-go community and the African American community during Black History Month.