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Sankofa
(pronounced ''SAHN''-koh-fah) is a word in the Twi language of Ghana meaning “to retrieve" (literally "go back and get"; - to return; - to go; - to fetch, to seek and take) and also refers to the Bono Adinkra symbol represented either with a stylized heart shape or by a bird with its head turned backwards while its feet face forward carrying a precious egg in its mouth. Sankofa is often associated with the proverb, “''Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi''," which translates as: "It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten." The sankofa bird appears frequently in traditional Akan art, and has also been adopted as an important symbol in an African-American and African Diaspora context to represent the need to reflect on the past to build a successful future. It is one of the most widely dispersed adinkra symbols, appearing in modern jewelry, tattoos, and clothing. Akan symbolism The Akan people of Ghana use an adinkra symbol to represent the same conc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sankofa (1993 Film)
''Sankofa'' ( Amharic: ሳንኮፋ) is a 1993 Ethiopian-produced drama film directed by Haile Gerima centered on the Atlantic slave trade. The storyline features Oyafunmike Ogunlano, Kofi Ghanaba, Mutabaruka, Alexandra Duah, and Afemo Omilami. The word Sankofa derives its meaning from the Ghanaian Akan language which means to "go back, look for, and gain wisdom, power and hope," according to Dr. Anna Julia Cooper. The word Sankofa stresses the importance of one not drifting too far away from one's past in order to progress in the future. In the film, Sankofa is depicted by a bird and the chants and drumming of a Divine Drummer. Gerima's film showed the importance of not having people of African descent drift far away from their African roots. Gerima used the journey of the character Mona to show how the African perception of identity included recognizing one's roots and "returning to one’s source" (Gerima). Plot The film starts off with an elderly Divine Drummer, Sankofa (playe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haile Gerima
Haile Gerima (born March 4, 1946) is an Ethiopian filmmaker who lives and works in the United States. He is a leading member of the L.A. Rebellion film movement, also known as the Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers. His films have received wide international acclaim. Since 1975, Haile has been an influential film professor at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He is best known for ''Sankofa'' (1993), which won numerous international awards. Early life Gerima was born and raised in Gondar, Ethiopia. Haile is ethnic Amhara. His father was a dramatist and playwright, who traveled across the Ethiopian countryside staging local plays. He was an important early influence. He has discussed the unconscious effect representations of colonialism in film had on him as a child: ...as kids, we tried to act out the things we had seen in the movies. We used to play cowboys and Indians in the mountains around Gondar...We acted out the roles of these heroes, identifying with the cowb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhiannon Giddens
Rhiannon Giddens (born February 21, 1977) is an American musician. She is a founding member of the country, blues and old-time music band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, where she is the lead singer, fiddle player, and banjo player. Giddens is a native of Greensboro, North Carolina. In addition to her work with the Grammy-winning Chocolate Drops, Giddens has released two solo albums: '' Tomorrow Is My Turn'' (2015) and '' Freedom Highway'' (2017). Her 2019 and 2021 albums, ''There Is No Other'' and '' They're Calling Me Home'' are collaborations with Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi. She appears in the Smithsonian Folkways collection documenting Mike Seeger's final trip through Appalachia in 2009, ''Just Around The Bend: Survival and Revival in Southern Banjo Styles – Mike Seeger’s Last Documentary'' (2019). In 2014, she participated in the T Bone Burnett-produced project titled The New Basement Tapes along with several other musicians, which set a ser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Washington, DC
) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, National Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of the District of Columbia.svg , image_seal = Seal of the District of Columbia.svg , nickname = D.C., The District , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive map of Washington, D.C. , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , established_title = Residence Act , established_date = 1790 , named_for = George Washington, Christopher Columbus , established_title1 = Organized , established_date1 = 1801 , established_title2 = Consolidated , established_date2 = 1871 , established_title3 = Home Rule Act ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Light 'til Dawn
''Blue Light 'til Dawn'' is a studio album by American jazz singer Cassandra Wilson. Her first album on the Blue Note label, it was released in 1993. It contains Wilson's interpretations of songs by various blues and rock artists, as well as three original compositions. The album marked a shift in Wilson's recording style, mostly dropping the electric instruments of her earlier albums in favor of acoustic arrangements. A critical and commercial breakthrough, the album was re-released in 2014 with three bonus tracks recorded live somewhere in Europe during the ''Blue Light 'til Dawn Tour''. The eponimous single was nominated for the Grammy Award as Best Jazz Vocal Performance. Background As of March 1996, the album sold over 250 000 copies. While recording the album, Wilson's father, jazz bassist Herman Fowlkes, died. In an interview for ''New York Magazine'' Wilson explained that the album's name refers to a certain time of night. Says Wilson "At a party you have a blue light to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson (born December 4, 1955) is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She is one of the most successful female Jazz singers and has been described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed with an unmistakable timbre and attack ho hasexpanded the playing field" by incorporating blues, country, and folk music into her work. She has won numerous awards, including two Grammys, and was named "America's Best Singer" by Time magazine in 2001. Early life and career Cassandra Wilson is the third and youngest child of Herman Fowlkes, Jr., a guitarist, bassist, and music teacher; and Mary McDaniel, an elementary school teacher who earned her PhD in education. Her ancestry includes Fon, Yoruba, Irish and Welsh. Between her mother's love for Motown and her father's dedication to jazz, Wilson's parents sparked her early interest in music. Leland, John. GOING HOME WITH: Cassandra Wilson; Jazz Diva Follows Sound of Her Roots'' '' Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dom Flemons
Dominique Flemons (born August 30, 1982) is an American old-time music, Piedmont blues, and neotraditional country multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. He is a proficient player of the banjo, fife, guitar, harmonica, percussion, quills, and rhythm bones. He is known as "The American Songster" as his repertoire of music spans nearly a century of American folklore, ballads, and tunes. He has performed with Mike Seeger, Joe Thompson, Martin Simpson, Boo Hanks, Taj Mahal, Old Crow Medicine Show, Guy Davis, and The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band. A member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops from their inception in 2005 until 2013, Flemons has released five albums in his own name, although two of those were collaborations with other musicians. Flemons appreciates the tradition inherent in his solo work and once stated, "I want to experiment rather than to merely replicate. It can never be as good as the original, so I make the music fit my own style. I look at the old time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Margaret Busby
Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Let's not forget" in ''Writing the Future: Black and Asian Writers and Publishers in the UK Market Place'', Spread the Word, April 2013, p. 30. when she and Clive Allison (1944–2011) co-founded Margaret Busby"Clive Allison obituary" ''The Guardian'', 3 August 2011. the London-based publishing house Allison and Busby (A & B) in the 1960s. She edited the anthology '' Daughters of Africa'' (1992), and its 2019 follow-up '' New Daughters of Africa''. She is a recipient of the Benson Medal from the Royal Society of Literature.Natasha Onwuemezi"Busby to compile anthology of African women writers" '' The Bookseller'', 15 December 2017. In 2020 she was voted one of the " 100 Great Black Britons". [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
500 Years Later
''500 Years Later'' ( ') is a 2005 independent documentary film directed by Owen 'Alik Shahadah and written by M. K. Asante, Jr. It has won five international film festival awards in the category of Best Documentary, including the UNESCO "Breaking the Chains" award. It has won other awards including Best Documentary at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, Best Documentary at the Bridgetown Film Festival in Barbados, Best Film at the International Black Cinema Film Festival in Berlin, and Best International Documentary at the Harlem International Film Festival in New York. ''500 Years Later'' has received praise and controversy, both for its creative documentary genre, and its social-political impact with relation to race study. The film premiered on February 28, 2005, at the Pan-African Awards (PAFF) and won Best Documentary there. It made its American television premiere on August 23, 2008, on TV One (Radio One), and Ethiopian Television premiere on October 27, 2007. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
