Sankofa as Sacred Writing Practice and Return to Ourselves

Sankofa is a Twi word meaning "to go back and retrieve." It is associated with the Adinkra symbol of a mythical bird facing backward with an egg at its beak, while its feet press forward. The accompanying Akan proverb reminds us: it is not taboo to return for what you have forgotten. At its heart, Sankofa reflects the belief that the past is not behind us, it is a living guide, holding wisdom we are invited to carry forward.

In this workshop, participants will explore how Black and African feminist and womanist writers, thinkers, and artists use language and memory-keeping as methods of world-building. Through grounding practices and guided creative exercises, participants will engage with a curated selection of voices: Octavia E. Butler's manifesto, Audre Lorde on naming and navigating rage, bell hooks on ecology and belonging, Lucille Clifton on rest and praise, and Ama Ata Aidoo on memory-keeping as radical practice. It is for people who carry stories that have not yet found their form. It is for people who know, somewhere in their body, that writing is not just expression, it is a practice, it is memory-keeping, it is survival and self-preservation.

Each session opens up space for self-reflection, imagination, remembrance, and creative production accompanied by writing, sound, and visuals. Participants will be invited to sustain a daily morning pages practice throughout the course as an ongoing grounding ritual. By the end of the workshop, each participant will leave with a physical creative artifact of their choosing a zine, sound playlist, manifesto, or another form that deepens and expands their relationship with creativity, and preserves their own making in whatever medium feels most natural to them.