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“Clearly our tasks must be a reconstruction of the building blocks of community, which is social structure; as well the restoration of our African humanity, particularly as it relates to culture and consciousness. These are not separate tasks. They are merely different dimensions of the same process….One of the problems that has faced us as a movement has been the degree to which we have narrowly used the term Sankofa. Sankofa is a term that comes from the Akan people of Ghana. It means to “go back and fetch it”. It is depicted as a bird whose body is facing forward, but its head is looking back. This symbol teaches the importance of using our history (our past experience) to inform us as we proceed into the future. Unfortunately many of us have applied this term too narrowly. Let me explain….For many people, Sankofa (or Re-Africanization) as processes simply refers to acts such as wearing African garb, wearing natural hair, having African names, vigorously studying African history, practicing African religions, and so forth. While these acts may pose some benefit they do not adequately reflect on the expansive ways in which we can approach Sankofa. Sankofa, as a process should inform our reengagement with African ideas, values, and beliefs. However, it must also inform our work of building small, sustainable, yet effective institutions.”
Kamau Rashid
