In the winter of 2019, I returned to Ghana for the first time in 22 years. On my visit, I went to the Elmina Slave Castle at the southern edge of Ghana on the beach of Cape Coast. The Slave Castle was called the Door of No Return, it was the end of the journey for many Africans who were carried through the continent, never to see their homeland again. 

 

I felt pain for my cousins and all those who suffered so deeply through this period of humanity's history. Although I wasn’t alive, my bones and blood felt a chill for the pain of those who came before us especially considering all that many of the African diaspora have endured since. 

 

My own personal return came with inner transformations that changed my view of the world. It altered my notions of privilege, access, and what it meant to connect. Shortly after my trip, I joined HOSIKIDS, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the quality education of a school in rural Bawaleshie in Ghana through development. This involvement helped with my continued involvement with Ghana, but there was more to the story. It helped foster my connection with my father, who’d passed away not long before my trip. 

 

Many of us often seek guidance and purpose in our lives. Returning to our roots and connecting with our past has a way of allowing our purpose to find us. Sandkofa was born out of this realization. It was born out of the intention that despite the traumas of our fast, in remembering them, we can best prepare ourselves for a future of joy and celebration for what's to come. 

 

Sandkofa is an invitation to Go Back and Get it.