I cant imagine a more profound way to find and reclaim my roots than to return to the place where my peoples still have their own traditions than to do it by boat. My repartriation.
We are currently on our way to Bahia, Brasil. The heart of Afrikan culture outside of Afrika.
Some might not realise it but the most slaves were sent to Brasil, while North America recieved about 10% of the slave population. So Bahia is fitting, I see it as the near end of a cultural bridge to Afrika.I dream of going to Afrika, to fill in more of the lapses in my "memory". To swim in the culture and birthplace of my ancestors. To find a place that I can accept more, with a little more intuitive understanding, regardless of the inevitable problems. Im excited to go back for what I forgot.
The concept of Sankofa is derived from King Adinkera of the Akan people of West Afrika. Sankofa is expressed in the Akan language as "se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenki." Literally translated it means "it is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot". "Sankofa" teaches us that we must go back to our roots in order to move forward. That is, we should reach back and gather the best of what our past has to teach us, so that we can achieve our full potential as we move forward. Whatever we have lost, forgotten, forgone or been stripped of, can be reclaimed, revived, preserved and perpetuated. Visually and symbolically "Sankofa" is expressed as a mythic bird that flies forward while looking backward with an egg (symbolizing the future) in its mouth. -W.E.B. DuBois Learning Center
As the saying goes in the Akan language, "Nyansa bunu mu ne mate masie" or "In the depth of wisdom abounds knowledge and thoughtfulness. I consider and keep what I learn.", per the Akan Cultural Symbols Project. Although all cultures have their proverbs, fables, and stories, used both to entertain and to teach, none seems to have joined the word so closely with an image than the Akan peoples of Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, in West Africa. Their symbolism not only plays an important role in their art but it also plays an essential role in day to day life.
Stamped Ghanian Adinkra Cloth Carved calabash (gourd) used as stamps.Adinkra known as
"Gye Nyame" for "Except God" is short for "This great panorama of creation dates back to time immemorial; no one lives who saw its beginning and no one will live to see its end, except God."Although people speak and write of "Akan symbolism", it is important to note that the Akan speaking peoples of West Africa are made up of several different groups, such as the Ashanti or the Fante, to name only two. Along with their shared language, there are also shared cultural values and symbols that seem to be widespread. Historically, as early as the 1400s, the Akan people were known for their metal arts, casting in gold, iron, and brass. It is no coincidence that Ghana was once known by its British colony name of Gold Coast (1821-1957). While their metal art (along with textiles, ceramics, and wood carving) is often displayed as though it were fine sculpture, and deservedly so, it was never art for arts sake.By joining symbolic images taken from stories and proverbs to particular functions for items of metal and other materials, specific messages were communicated in sophisticated and subtle ways. From brass weights used to measure gold to colorful stamped clothing, from the tops of umbrellas to stools used by chiefs, Akan symbols or adinkra seem to permeate life at nearly every turn and touch on all sorts of topics. Take, for example, the dress of a woman that is made of cloth called "kurufue ti ka nani bii" or "Co-wife rivalry is like cow dung" which is actually short for "Co-wife rivalry is like cow dung: the top is dry but the inside is sticky.
Here are some more Akan symbols described for you;
http://www.africawithin.com/tour/ghana/adinkra_symbols.htm
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