The Black Doll Affair (TBDA), the Barack Obama Presidential Volunteer Service Award–winning cultural arts and self-esteem movement, announces The ME Doll (Mitochondrial Eve) – a human family heirloom inspired by the shared origin of humanity. Through the launch of the ME Doll, TBDA also introduces ME + You, a global artistic and cultural initiative inviting artists and the public to participate in telling the oldest story on Earth: that every living human traces their maternal lineage to one African Mother. Founded by Dana Hill, better known as “Mama Doll,” The Black Doll Affair continues its mission to merge education, empowerment, and cultural storytelling through art.
ME is short for Mitochondrial Eve, the African woman from whom all living humans trace their maternal lineage. While she was not the only woman alive at the time, she is the only one whose mitochondrial DNA line continued unbroken to the present day. This scientific understanding affirms that every person alive today belongs to one human family, connected through a single maternal origin in Africa.
