SANKOFA BRIEFS! ISSUE NO. 1

Sankofa Briefs, 2240 Raeburn Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45223 | 513-226-7410 | www.sankofaenrichment.org

REFLECTING AND MOVING FORWARDThe students of the 2009-2010 Sankofa class represented the last class of Sankofa that will attend regular Saturday classes, go on monthly cultural journeys and have monthly movie dates. Sankofa is going virtual and will begin to offer the Sankofa program to the community on a contractual basis. Sankofa classes can com to your organization. The book - Lessons with a purpose - is scheduled to be completed by September 2011 so that the rich classes can be available to any organization with similar goals. If your organization is focusing on the Underground Railroad, Sankofa can provide lessons that target your goals. If your emphasis is the Harlem Renaissance, Sankofa can provide activities that display the rich culture of that period. The vision of Sankofa has expanded to include the benefits that accompany appropriate use of technology. Not only will the mission of Sankofa reach more people, but the opportunity to provide our resources interactively is being explored. Our future includes the continuation of preparing students and coaches for international travel. We are seeking expertise in helping to make this a reality.

Sankofa Briefs will be our communication instrument providing general information, updates and opportunities. Look for Sankofa Briefs in November, February, May and August. Visit our website for more

information - www.sankofaenrichment.org.

UNDERSERVED BLACK HISTORY FACTOn November 1, 1890, the State of Mississippi approved the Mississippi Plan. The Mississippi Plan used literacy and “understanding tests” to disenfranchise African Americans. Disenfranchisement statuses were also enacted in South Carolina (1895), Louisiana (1898), North Carolina (1900), Virginia (1901), Georgia (1908), and Oklahoma (1910). Through these state statutes (they were not federal law) African Americans were effectively eliminated from the electorate until the mid twentieth century. 120 years later: If there are no “disenfranchisement statuses” on the books today, what aspects of American culture effectively eliminate a large number of people of color from participating fully as US citizens?

Welcome to the first issue of Sankofa Briefs, a

quarterly online newsletter published by the Sankofa Educational Enrichment Program in Cincinnati, Ohio. Sankofa Briefs

will include the following:

Alumni Spotlight - Highlighting former Sankofa students.

Reflecting and Moving Forward - Current information on the activities of Sankofa.

Return and Retrieve - A flashback into Sankofa’s past highlighting past Sakofa events.

Underserved Black History Fact - A bit of history that may have been hidden from view.

Deep Thought - A Sankofa alum’s critical commentary on a current event.

Memories from Sankofa Paint ‘n Play

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Sankofa Briefs, 2240 Raeburn Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45223 | 513-226-7410 | www.sankofaenrichment.org

RETURN AND RETRIEVE

SANKOFA PAINT ‘N PLAY - MARCH 26, 2010Sankofa Paint ‘n Play was a fundraising event that successfully raised enough funds to send a Sankofa student on the Enyinmyam tour to Egypt and Ghana in July of this year. Sankofa Paint ‘n Play was a night of fun at Mixx Ultra Lounge. Participants had the opportunity to play any game you could think of from Chutes and Ladders, Rockem Sockem, Twister to Monopoly, chekers and chess. A DJ provided ongoing music that was only interrupted when Musical Chairs was being played. Cincinnati’s own artist-in-residence, Ms. Annie Ruth, designed a special canvas that came to life by the end of the evening. Participants donned vests and picked up paint brushes to paint-by-numbers to reveal Connecting the Dream, the final product. It is awesome! Paint ‘n Play was the brainchild of former Sankofa student Alexis Harris who managed the event and held Sankofa’s hand as we moved into the arena of social networking - unchartered territory for us. Alexis revived the Paint by Numbers idea at Sankofa’s Closing Ceremony in May. Students and parents painted a beautiful rendition of Sankofa’s logo which is now a permanent fixture in our community room at Sankofa. The work of Alexis and Erin Hedges highlights the role young adults can play in keeping Sankofa alive, relevant and healthy.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT - ERICA WEBBErica Webb attended Sankofa from 1995 until 1999. She was an active member of Sankofa, missing very few Saturdays. Her mother, Florence McCray, attended many sessions with her and was an active member of Sankofa’s parent group. Erica has a desire to follow in her mother’s footsteps (a caterer) and become a cook. She loves to

cook and wants to open a family restaurant and night club. Erica has worked for the Urban League of Cincinnati as a receptionist. She has a son, Kevan, who is 10 years o l d a n d w h o a t t e n d s Rockdale Academy. Erica is the president of the Rockdale P a r e n t - T e a c h e r s Organization and she sits of t h e B o a r d o f t h e neighborhood health clinic. Erica carries the Sankofa principles with her everywhere she goes and seeks to make sure that Kevan benefits from a Sankofa education.

DEEP THOUGHT - KUSH MOYOGenerally, the topic of Medical

Marijuana is met with triviality; I think, undeservedly so. Most of its backlash is due to ignorance of facts, acceptance of Reaganistic rhetoric, and unfair laws that have left a negative impression on the masses. Still, millions, despite its negative and unlawful l ight, use marijuana medicinally and recreationally It’s said that one in five Americans have tried or use marijuana. Presently there are 14 states that have Medicinal Marijuana legislature on record. There are many more states that have the Medical Marijuana on ballots this November, including Ohio. California has gone as far as the decriminalization of even its recreational use, and in November, California residents will vote on its full legality of production, use, and sale. My reason for choosing Marijuana as a topic to critically evaluate is to bring awareness to its currently evolving state of legality and to urge those don’t know much about Marijuana to do a little research on its uses beyond it creating a state of euphoria. Did you know that marijuana uses include rope and canvass making, biomass fuels, essential

Sankofa 2009-2010 Contributors

Jenga ($500+)George & Ruby Malone

Jim & Eileen Reed

Mufasa ($120-$499)Alice Adams

Naima ClarkeIfe Curruthers

Chester & Ann GrundyGwen ParhamArthur Pate, Jr.Curt Standifer

Eleanor Stewart-KaySoyini Walton

Bobbie Womack

Erica and Kevan

amino acids within seeds, paper, fishing nets, textiles, c l o t h e s , h e m p fl o u r , unsaturated fatty oils. Even the military makes use of it.

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Sankofa Briefs, 2240 Raeburn Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45223 | 513-226-7410 | www.sankofaenrichment.org

We landed in Kemet/Egypt first. The land of the pyramids proved to be mysterious and exciting. Some great majestic structure is visible from any vista. The inhabitants of Cairo see them without really seeing them, since they are so prevalent that they come and go about their daily life taking them for granted. Our tour guide, Mr. Khalid Ghorab of Queens Travel, was so informative. Starting at a plateau in Giza, we saw the pyramids of the kings of the Fourth Dynasty; Khufu, Khafra and Menkaura. There are three small pyramids on one side which makes it possible to see all five at one time. Conlei took a camel ride, but since I heard that they spit, I just stood reluctantly by one to take a picture. We also visited ancient burial sites of Sakkara and Memphis, Ramsis II and the Sphinx, which to me was most impressing. We arrived in Accra, Ghana on the fifth day and rested. Ok, some of us rested, Conlei and Kobe, the youngest member of the trip, swam. The next day, after a brief language lesson, we visited The National M u s e u m , K w a m e N k r u m a h Mausoleum, Du bois Center. Here we laid the traditional Enyimnyam Wreath. This was quite a nostalgic moment. I have been guided by Nkrumah’s thoughts since college and now to be in the place that he lived and was the first leader after Ghana gained

independence, was a “Sankofa” moment for me. I went back and fetched it. I grabbed the feeling and the thoughts as we moved on. The hands on participation in the day to day lifestyle of the people of Ghana allowed us to get a real feel for what life was like in this part of the world where so many of our ancestors were taken. Choices included textile processing, traditional pottery making, women’s clinic and daycare/school site. We toured the Prempeh II Jubilee museum and the Manhyia Palace Museum. At Akwasiho-Kwahu of Kumasi, the village of Dr. Wade Nobles, we were welcomed like royalty with a traditional ceremony including a speech by the King, dancing and drumming, and the offering of palm w i n e. We l e a r n e d t o b a rg a i n everywhere we stopped. One of the weavers at the internationally known Bonwire Kente Weaving Center allowed me to sit at his loom and weave a few rows. They use their big toes to move the threads. It feels funny at first. The impact of the spirit of African souls that paid the ultimate price for our current existence is felt the deepest on the coast where the “Slave Castles”, or dungeons, were built. It is as if they still walk today; each day - never resting. We visited a site called the “Last Bath” where captives stopped to rest on their one way trek to the coast to walk through a “DOORWAY OF

NO RETURN”. Like the pyramids, the slave castles line the horizon and are seen daily by inhabitants as they live, work and play, but for us, they were like needles shooting us in the heart as we noticed each on when the bus would drive pass. Each of us, in our own way, gained a memory, had an experience and came back changed in some way. Me, I don’t know exactly how I was changed, but I know that I will never take home for granted again. I never thought that I would miss the family that I left in Cincinnati - after all I was only going to be gone for thirteen days. But I did become homesick and felt somehow depressed that I could not communicate with loved ones. I lost my phone, so I couldn’t even text. I felt that all of this was somehow a part of the destiny. I began to reflect on what it would be like if I couldn’t go home. All my family gone; husband, aunties, cousins, friends, even the job that I complain about would be gone. All gone! What type of job would I do here? Where would I sleep, eat, live. How long would it take for me to learn the language? Would I die from lack of medical supplies that I currently take? And where would my body rest? I thought, these must have been questions that our ancestors asked or felt. I know that this experience makes their stories more real for me.

Reflections from Africa ~ Beverly Pryor-Young, Sankofa Coach 2010

Making cloth At the pyramids Weaving kente