“The river that forgets its source will dry up.”
—West African Proverb
At sunrise, I stepped into the Atlantic with trembling legs and a full heart. I’ve always feared the open water, but something in Ghana—something ancestral, something spiritual—invited me to keep going. As the waves touched my skin, I felt the presence of those who came before me. It wasn’t just water. It was witness. It was ceremony.At Osu Castle, formerly Fort Christiansborg, I stood before a passage carved from stone and silence. My chest tightened. My legs weakened. My bones remembered. This was a return not only for me, but for the countless lives once stolen from this very shore. I came to honor them, and to listen with my whole body.
Ghana wasn’t just a destination. It was a rite of passage. A spiraling toward clarity. A convergence of memory, land, spirit, and self. At Sankofa Impact, we teach that memory lives in the body. This journey made that truth undeniable. In the land. In the water. In stillness. I didn’t just visit—I returned.
Shout Outs
- Monica Mendoza-Castrejon ’15 for her political work in the Puget Sound region
- Natasha Martin ’19 and her team for hosting the 2025 Racial Equity Summit at Seattle University
- Omari Amili ’22 for directing the good work with Husky Post Prison Pathway
- Rebecca Ballweg-Weiss ’22 for graduating from Leadership Tomorrow
- Kamari Bright ’24 for showing her art at Hedreen Gallery for Taking Care: Embrace with Tenderness
- Grace Rajendran and SAL for being great community partners
- Made Space for organizing First Friday in the CD
- Community Centric Fundraising for holding their first family reunion
- LANGSTON for screening over 100 incredible films at the annual Seattle Black Film Festival
Visit Sankofa Impact during Central District Art Walk on May 2nd from 6pm-9pm for Rise Unbound, an evening of engagement, reflection, and connection. Join us at our office at 1408 18th Ave.
We are opening our office space to welcome community, share the heart of our work, and offer a curated collection of books centering Black history, resistance, and liberation. Each visitor is invited to choose one book to take home.
Inspired by Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, we believe rising begins with letting go of the ‘shit that weighs us down.’ It is a tough out there. Come meet with us in the CD for Rise Unbound, find inspiration, and carry a piece of collective knowledge forward.
Pilgrimage-in-Place Partners
Sankofa Impact is proud to have provided our Pilgrimage-in-Place programing to our partners at the Washington Women’s Foundation, San Diego State University, Seattle University, and Bellevue College.
The Pilgrimage-in-Place program offers a series of unique workshops intended to increase awareness of historical events that have defined and perpetuated systemic racism in the United States. Offered virtually or in-person, the workshops are an immersive experience that build on a theme, bringing alive our place-based learning approach.
Contact team@sankofaimpact.org if your organization is interested in a Pilgrimage-in-Place workshop partnership.
The forces working to erase truth, history, and community power haven’t slowed down. And neither have we.
GiveBIG officially takes place May 6–7, but early giving is now open. If you’ve been moved by Sankofa Impact’s work, if you believe in the power of reflection, memory, and showing up, we invite you to act now.
This spring, we’re honoring everyday activists: the ones who speak up, who care deeply, who move through the world with courage. The ones who sustain us.
You are one of them.
Make a gift today to keep this work going.
The World War II iconography of Rosie the Riveter is well known—a white woman dressed in coveralls and a bandana, ready to work, flexing her bicep with a determined expression. She symbolized strength and resilience, becoming an enduring emblem of white women entering the workforce during the war.
By the mid-20th century, the second wave of the Great Migration saw Black Americans leaving the Jim Crow South to escape widespread racial terror. Many were drawn to new job opportunities in northern and western cities like Los Angeles, Oakland, and Seattle, particularly Black women seeking industrial and wartime employment.
They were known as Black Rosies.
Amanda Castro has been with Sankofa Impact for nearly four years, first as an intern and now as our Administrative Coordinator. She is about to graduate with her Masters of Social Work degree from the University of Southern California. Amanda recently attended the 37th Annual Peacemaker Awards hosted by the National Conflict Resolution Center as a community partner through her MSW internship at A Reason To Survive. She wrote a blog about her experience and we want to share it with our community.
We could not be more proud of you, Amanda.
Do Something
- Visit the Ai Weiwei Exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum running until September 7th.
- Show up and show out at the Summer of Soul events put on by Africatown
- Go see The Color Purple at The Village Theater
- Attend a Lunch & Learn with the Holocaust Center for Humanity
- Visit the National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington, D.C.
- Attend a protest. Any protest. In the words of Killer Mike, “Plot, plan, strategize, organize, and mobilize.”
QUESTIONS?
Feel free to reach out to us with any questions or comments.
- email: team@sankofaimpact.org
- phone: (206) 688-9820
