INSPIRE • EXPERIENCE • CONNECT

The African-American Cultural Alliance (AACA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization rooted in culture, community, and connection.

For more than four decades, we have created meaningful opportunities for people to learn, experience, celebrate, and connect through education, the arts, history, and community engagement.

Our work is about more than preserving culture—it’s about creating space for people to discover, share, and be inspired by the richness of our collective heritage.

Explore what we do. Find something that inspires you. Experience it. Connect with your community. Come be part of it.

1. Provide Historical And Cultural Facts

AACA connects African and African American history across Africa, the Caribbean, Canada, and Tennessee. These shared stories of migration, freedom, resilience, creativity, and community building help us understand how history continues to shape our communities.

Did You Know?

● Colombia is home to one of the largest populations of people of African descent in the Americas. Afro-Colombian communities have shaped the country’s culture, history, and civic life.

● In 1792, approximately 1,200 Black Loyalists from Nova Scotia helped establish Freetown, Sierra Leone. Many were formerly enslaved people who sought freedom by supporting the British during the American Revolutionary War.

● The Underground Railroad extended beyond the northern United States. Freedom seekers traveled to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and other destinations.
(National Park Service)

● West Africa plays a central role in the global cocoa industry. Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana are among the world’s leading cocoa-producing countries.
(International Cocoa Organization)

Together, these stories reveal connections among migration, freedom, labor, culture, and resilience.

In Nashville, AACA brings these connections to life through cultural education, historical interpretation, community partnerships, and our work at Fort Negley. The site honors the contributions and sacrifices of African American laborers during the Civil War while creating space to explore freedom, citizenship, and community resilience.

From Africa to Tennessee, our stories are connected.

2. We Strengthen Our Community

We strengthen our community by promoting positive values through the culture, history, and educational experiences of the African Diaspora.

We promote dignity, creativity, and cultural understanding while creating opportunities for people of the African Diaspora and others to learn, connect, and grow together.

Through theater, music, history, poetry, dance, and other cultural expressions, we educate our communities about the rich heritage of Africa and its Diaspora. Most importantly, we build bridges across cultures, encourage positive relationships, and create opportunities that support the holistic well-being and advancement of our communities.

3. We Teach Community Action

The African-American Cultural Alliance (AACA) believes that strong communities are built through connection, understanding, participation, and shared experiences.

For more than four decades, AACA has been a part of the fabric of Nashville—creating opportunities for people to come together, learn from one another, celebrate culture, preserve history, support one another, and make meaningful connections throughout our city and beyond.

Our work goes far beyond any single event. Through cultural programs, education, the arts, historic preservation, community partnerships, youth engagement, health and wellness initiatives, support for local entrepreneurs and businesses, and year-round community involvement, we work to make a positive and lasting impact.

From the African Street Festival to our involvement in Fort Negley and the preservation and interpretation of Nashville’s history, AACA helps create opportunities for people to learn, connect, participate, and see themselves as part of the larger story of our community.

Our Community Impact

Community impact is at the heart of everything we do.

We connect people to culture, history, education, resources, businesses, artists, entrepreneurs, organizations, and one another. We create spaces where people can have meaningful experiences, discover new perspectives, build relationships, and find ways to contribute.

Our work helps:

• Celebrate and preserve culture and history

• Connect people across cultures, generations, and communities

• Support local artists, entrepreneurs, and businesses

• Create opportunities for education, youth engagement, health and wellness

• Preserve and share the stories that help us understand our community

• Build partnerships that bring people and organizations together

• Create welcoming spaces where everyone can participate and belong

• Strengthen the cultural, social, and economic fabric of our community

We believe our city is stronger when people know one another, understand one another, and have opportunities to experience the richness of the cultures and histories that make Nashville what it is.

That is why our work is for all people.

Whether through a cultural celebration, a historic place, a community program, a partnership, a classroom, a local business, or simply creating a space for people to come together, AACA is committed to making a difference.

Culture connects us. History teaches us. Community strengthens us. And together, we create lasting impact.

We Teach Community Action.
We Strengthen Our Community.
We Create Space Where Everyone Thrives.