Sankofa

Sankofa is an Akan concept from Ghana that means, in plain terms, to go back and get it — the understanding that moving forward well often requires returning for something valuable that was left behind. In CultureROOTS it is the movement that gives the work its direction, carrying the four movements: Remember, Relate, Restore, Regenerate.

In the Adinkra symbol tradition Sankofa is pictured as a bird facing forward while turning back to lift an egg from its own back — forward motion and deliberate return in one image. The direction of travel is forward; the return is how a person or an organization gathers what it needs for the road.

From the Akan tradition of Ghana and its Adinkra symbol system; carried into diasporic thought by Marcus Garvey.