"Artists are the Gatekeepers of Truth," said Paul Robeson. America has a rich history of artist-activists.
We at Sankofa.org are partnering with the artists of today who are using their voice to impact the future. The next generation.
Projects
Civics Series
The Civics Series is an ongoing online video series in which artists from different disciplines come together and use storytelling to discuss issues that are often overlooked. One of our favorite projects was our incredible discussion at the Kennedy Center with Hank Willis Thomas, BMike Odums, Sophia Dawson, & Rene Payne
For Freedoms
Together In 2018, we launched the largest creative collaboration in our nation's history, the 50 State Initiative. During the midterm election season, we held over 600 concurrent decentralized public events across the country with over 250 partners that reflected a multiplicity of voices and sparked a national dialogue about art, education, commerce, and politics. Artistic expression, such as that of the 50 State Initiative Billboards, offers the possibility of inspiring people to feel empowered to enter the civic sphere.
Into Action
This powerful activation was a celebration of community power + cultural resistance, that brought together hundreds of the nation's top visual artists, activists and influencers for creative installations, powerful panels, and music performances. The nine-day festival of unprecedented scale ran in Downtown L.A. from Saturday, January 13 - Sunday January 21, 2018 , to shine a light on injustices and galvanize communities to turn ideas into action. INTO ACTION! fell on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and marks the one-year anniversary of both the presidential inauguration and the Women’s March.
Many Rivers To Cross Music Festival
“Many Rivers To Cross” was the largest Music and Arts Festival dedicated to racial and social justice. The festival took place October 1 & 2 in Chattahoochee Hills, GA outside of Atlanta. “Many Rivers To Cross” promoted awareness around critical human rights issues.
RISD + Sankofa.org
Since 2018 Sankofa has partnered with The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Social Equity Inclusion initiatives to explore the intersections of social justice in the arts and more.
Tu Música, Tu Voz, Tu Voto
Sankofa.org and the Latino Community Foundation joined forces with The Young Turks in a final push to get out the vote among Latinx youth. Together, the organizers convened one of the largest non-partisan voter mobilization event in the country, dubbed “Tu Música, Tu Voz, Tu Voto. The Tu Música, Tu Voz, Tu Voto event included some of America’s most talented Latinx artists in music and TV, including Rosario Dawson, Carlos Santana, Amara La Negra, Frankie Negron, and many others. Comedians Aida Rodriguez and Gadiel Del Orbe hosted the fantastic event.
Lyrics from Lockdown
This unbelievably true story begins when Brooklyns own hip hop theater innovator and spoken word champion, Bryonn Bain (60 Minutes, The Village Voice, BETs My Two Cents), is wrongly imprisoned in NYC jails while studying law at Harvard. Directed by Sankofa.org’s Gina Belafonte, this project weaves together the voices of over 40 characters into a one-man tour de force, Lyrics From Lockdown, is a groundbreaking multimedia production with a live band and video DJ, fusing hip hop, theater, spoken word poetry, rhythm and blues, calypso and classical music, to tell a provocative story exposing racial profiling and wrongful incarceration in a nation imprisoning more people than any other in the world.
Survivor’s Guide to Prison
Survivors Guide to Prison is a 2018 documentary film directed by Matthew Cooke exploring the United States prison system, largely through the lens of two wrongly convicted men, Reggie Cole and Bruce Lisker. The film, narrated by Cooke and Susan Sarandon, focuses on problems one might face against the prison system via segments covering topics such as plea bargains, solitary confinement, and the difficulties of life after prison. The movie features interviews with former prison inmates, police officers, court officials, lawyers, and journalists, as well as many appearances by celebrities such as Danny Glover, B-Real, Macklemore, Deepak Chopra, RZA, Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip, Quincy Jones, Tom Morello, Wayne Kramer, Ice-T, and Danny Trejo. Some of the celebrities interviewed are themselves former prison inmates. The film was executive produced by Adrian Grenier and Susan Sarandon. Sankofa.org’s Gina Belafonte was a producer on this important film.