“Ubuntu speaks of the very essence of being human. “I am because you are.” It is to say, ‘My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours.’ We belong in a bundle of life. We say, ‘A person is a person through other persons.”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Dear Community
As we transition to shorter days and the arrival of winter weather, I hope you and your loved ones are finding ways to nurture your well-being, whether that means embracing moments of rest, pursuing activities that bring joy, or coming together in the comfort of shared connections.
As we look towards 2024, the measure of Sankofa Impact’s success resides in the transformation of untold stories into known history, the evolution of participants coming together to form lifelong Pilgrimage cohort bonds, and embracing lessons of activism and resistance which become the catalyst for transformative social justice.
We’ve set our sights on some ambitious goals for the upcoming year, and as you know, we rely on the support of our community. This includes participating in GivingTuesday, a national day of giving, on Tuesday, November 28th. Donations are critical to building our capacity, particularly to host our immersive experiences and keep them accessible to all people.
Now through GivingTuesday, we have a goal of gaining 50 new supporters.
I am asking you to please consider making a one-time donation or a recurring gift to Sankofa Impact. Gifts of all amounts make a difference and contribute to reaching our collective vision, please give what is meaningful to you.
Thank you for being in community with us. I look forward to seeing you soon.
—Felicia
Shoutouts
- Mark Pearson ’14 for sharing songs and stories of the Civil Rights movement called Remembering the Dream.
- Sasha Lee ’15 for bravely co-founding a new nonprofit consulting agency called, Essentia.
- Simon Tran ’15 for landing an awesome new position with our friend Jason Porter at Seattle Art Museum.
- Ryaire Richardson ’18 for getting engaged, starting a new job, and moving to Dallas, Texas!
- Jay Patacsil ’22 and Rebecca Ballweg ’22 for going from RCB students to Sankofa Impact board members.
- Sean Goode ’22 for starting a position at Seattle Foundation directing vital resources into our community.
- Jan Glasper for being a staunch supporter of Sankofa Impact and for showing up first to our open house.
- Delbert Richardson for bringing his incredible traveling museum to the Puget Sound Educational Service District.
- Collective Justice family for a stellar event premiering their new film about restorative justice, How We Heal.
- Orlando Ames, briana herman-brand, and Andrea Arenas for expertly helping to guide our staff and board retreat.
We are excited to announce our Sankofa Impact Pilgrimage Portal. This short pre-application will enable us to gauge the readiness of potential cohort members for upcoming Pilgrimage to the South trips.
If you are interested in joining our community of every activists, please take a few minutes and fill out some preliminary information. If you know someone who might be interested, send them this link to the portal.
When we are ready to run a trip, we will reach out to folks for their full application. Responses are kept strictly confidential and there is no obligation beyond indicating interest in the journey.
This past October, our friends at CHOOSE 180 held their annual Evening of Choice event and members of the Sankofa Impact team were in attendance. The evening brought together the CHOOSE 180 community to celebrate and support their work with young people in the legal system. This year they premiered Pilgrimage to the South, a film documenting the Fall 2022 trip conducted by Sankofa Impact.
During the event, Sankofa Impact had the honor of accepting the CHOOSE 180 Founder’s Award. The award was presented by Tascha Johnson and accepted by Felicia Ishino. This award honors the work that Sankofa Impact does in educating the community about our shared history, healing from the past, and working towards a future where we are all free.
Thank you, Choose 180!
The Sankofa Impact team is still buzzing with the energy and enthusiasm that filled our space during October’s Open House. We want to express our heartfelt thanks to the 100+ people who joined us at the office. The support from our Pilgrimage alumni, community leaders, and dear friends was inspiring and exceeded our expectations.
We want to dream up ways that the Sankofa Impact office might serve as a hub for movement and coalition building. Moving forward, we welcome ideas and suggestions for community partnerships that will help us deepen our connections in the Central District neighborhood.
Sankofa Impact has such gratitude for your support and we value each of you as ambassadors for our mission to face our shared history with belief in a future that will bring our collective liberation.
Community Spotlight
Mosea is an intern at Sankofa Impact and is focused on helping the team foster a stronger community with Pilgrimage alumni. Mosea’s favorite teacher is Steve Herbert, a former professor at the University of Washington. Through his teaching, Mosea expanded her knowledge about mass incarceration and its harms; with this, she hopes to use her voice to advocate for people who need it. If given the opportunity, Mosea would break bread with Beyoncé. She admires the impact and artistry that Beyoncé has shared with the world since her debut. Outside of her time with SI, Mosea is pursuing her undergraduate degree in Law, Societies, and Justice at the University of Washington. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading, collecting figurines, and going on walks.
Rebecca is from a farming community in the Midwest and made Seattle home in 2021. She believes in the necessity of internal reflection to challenge community structures and is energized by direct action. In her current role at Community Attributes, a Seattle-based economic consulting firm, she helps communities find pathways to grow equitably and sustainably through economic development and urban planning. In the past, she worked on public policy in Wisconsin with a focus on justice systems. Rebecca holds an MBA from University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin. She resides in White Center and enjoys skiing and board games with friends and family.
QUESTIONS?
Feel free to reach out to us with any questions or comments.
- email: [email protected]
- phone: (206) 688-9820
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