Sankofa: Moving Through Space and Time

With members of the Griots Circle of Maryland

This crankie was created as part of The Peale's 2019 Mash-Up grant, read below for more info about that program. This piece was an hour-long performance, written, sung, and performed by Storytellers Anokwale Anansesemfo, President of the Griots’ Circle of Maryland, and Mama Linda Goss, Co-founder of the National Association of the Black Storytellers, for an opening night at The Peale Musum in the summer of 2019. The crankie was designed and produced in collaboration with the storytellers' original script, made up of poems, songs, and historical narratives from three enslaved women brought to antebellum Maryland during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Dewmore Baltimore Poet Laureate Deleicea Greene joined us for the live event to perform a contemporary narrative of oppression and the fight for freedom. Below are stills from the crankie and final performance.