Mandingo

Mandingo, often spelled Mandinko or Mandinka, refers to the Mandinka people, a West African ethnic group. The Mandinka are concentrated in Mali, The Gambia, Senegal, Guinea, and Ivory Coast, with smaller populations in Guinea-Bissau and Burkina Faso. They speak Mandinka, a Mande language within the Niger-Congo family.

Historically, the Mandinka have ties to the medieval Mali Empire and other West African polities centered in urban centers such as Timbuktu. The griot or jeli tradition preserves oral histories, genealogies, and praise songs, while the kora, a long-necked harp, is a prominent instrument in Mandinka music. Islam is widely practiced among the Mandinka, often alongside traditional beliefs and customs, with regional variations in religion, dress, and ceremony.

Terminology and usage: In scholarly contexts, Mandinka is the preferred term for the people and language. Mandingo is an older Anglicization that has appeared in various historical and literary contexts. In popular culture, Mandingo has been used in novels and films, notably a 1957 novel and a 1975 film that depicted slave-era settings and a sexualized stereotype of Black men. Such portrayals have drawn criticism for perpetuating racist tropes and for diverging from actual Mandinka history and culture.

See also: The Mandinka are part of the broader Mande-speaking groups in West Africa, sharing linguistic and cultural ties with related communities. The Mandinka language is one of several languages in the region, each with its own dialects and regional variations.