"Se wo were fi na wosan kofa a, yenkyi"... From the Akan people of West Africa we get "Sankofa", which teaches us to return to our roots to move forward. We take the best of what our past has to teach us to become all we are and grow into our future. Whatever was lost, forgone, forgotten, or stolen will be reclaimed, revived, preserved and perpetuated.
Sankofa is the foundation of a series of ongoing dialogues between Africans and African Americans, jointly hosted by the Center for Intercultural Organizing and the Portland Urban League. Groundbreaking in scope and vision, the dialogues gather Africans and members of the African diaspora to re-learn and re-establish shared history and heritage. The dialogues also break down barriers and negative perceptions arising from the institutions of slavery and colonialism; participants dig deep to undo damage from lies told to keep Africans and African Americans apart.
Sunshine Dixon (Urban League of Portland), Kayse Jama (Center for Intercultural Organizing), and Eric Ward (Center for New Community) join Celeste and Cecil to discuss this powerful "family reunion".
Learn more about these organizations: http://www.interculturalorganizing.org; http://www.ulpdx.org and http://www.newcomm.org