6-8 p.m. film screening
8-9 p.m. panel discussion
Online; open to all
This special screening of Sankofa will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Kishauna Soljour, history faculty.
Sankofa (1993), written and directed by Ethiopian-born filmmaker Haile Gerima, tells the story of an African American fashion model named Mona who goes on a spiritual journey of resistance to confront her past. An encounter with a local griot sends her on a transcendental journey back through time, where she emerges as Shola, an enslaved woman on a plantation somewhere in the Americas. The film's title is derived from the word "Sankofa" in the dialect of Ghana's Akan people, meaning to retrieve. This concept is represented by an African Diaspora symbol of a bird flying forward with its head turned backward holding a previous egg in its mouth, recovering what was lost in order to move forward. The movie is a bridge between the origin of the ideology and the meaning it holds in society today.
The panel discussion following the film screening will explore the link between the legacy of slavery and modern societal problems, resistance and liberation, identity, activism, community-building, and generational storytelling. In order to build and expand on these themes, additional community resources include: a genealogy workshop, learning companion, suggested readings, small group discussions, and a podcast. This event is part of a series that engages different generations and individual approaches to injustice in the past and possibilities for the future. While this initial conversation focuses on descendants of the African Diaspora, future events will provide an opportunity to discover how other groups, communities, and populations tell their stories.
This Belonging event, in partnership with Ava DuVernay’s film collective Array, is sponsored by the offices of the President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Alumni Relations, and The Anita L. Stafford Office of Community Partnerships.
Register for this event
A zoom link will be sent to registrants within 24 hours of the event.