Sank)fa is an adrinka symbol, originating from the Ashantes in Ghana, West Africa. This symbol asks us "to go back and reclaim." It reminds us of the importance and significance of returning "home", and to honour our past culture, by bringing it's wisdom into our present day.
I believe, this does not mean reverting to unfair, ignorant, judgmental, fearful ways. Instead, it asks us to mindfully sift through the past, and give voice to those previously muted stories that hold the wisdom. The idea of bringing those stories into the present, changes the cannon of story-telling and our interaction with the present because every story changes culture.
The significance that each story is given by its culture, and by those who steer culture, creates the way the past is recounted by determining what is deemed to be important or worth remembering. What of those untold stories waiting to be heard? How can they be shared? How can they grow and be nurtured? Who deems them to be significant? How shall they be told? Who shall tell them?
By encouraging our emerging writers and story-tellers to share their stories, to journey with them "back home", we enrich the present with new ways of experiencing the past, and in doing so, navigate with new insight and sensibility into the future.
p.d. casely-hayford
more editorials
Creative Writing: in a world full of visuals, why are we still reading?
Why is creative writing and spoken word still engaging us? Perhaps it's because the imagination is the last refuge left to us. Read more...
top of page