Happy Thursday!

 

If you could reclaim one aspect of your identity, history, or heritage, what would it be?

 

I ask, because this week, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Akan concept of Sankofa, which means to retrieve, or “it is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot.” This aphorism is represented by the Adinkra symbol of a bird with its head turned backward and its feet facing forward. It is often used by Ghanaians and people of African descent in the diaspora as an invitation to learn from the past and to reclaim aspects of our history of heritage. When Beyoncé surprised us by dropping not one but two songs during last week’s Super Bowl, it struck me as an act of Sankofa. (Sidebar: I almost didn’t write this Thursday Thought because I just wrote about Beyoncé a couple of weeks ago; but as I sat in my Uber contemplating this week’s newsletter, I looked to my right, and there, on a billboard in the US, was the Sankofa Adinkra…and who am I to ignore a sign???)

 

Sankofa Adinkra

As if to prove my point about creating our own measures of success, Beyoncé’s latest offerings are country songs, and it’s widely believed that her next album will be country as well. Why does this matter? Country music, like the disco genre her last album, Renaissance ACT I, draws upon, has its roots in Black traditions. Yet, despite being originators and early propagators of these sounds, Black folks have largely been erased from the genres. So much so that in addition to the expected opposition from “mainstream country audiences,” some Black people don’t even consider these mediums “Black music.”

 

In choosing to engage Country, Beyoncé is practicing Sankofa. She is reclaiming what has been lost for all of us. In exploring who she is as an artist, expanding her sphere of influence, she is creating space for others to do the same (you can read about the impact of Beyoncé’s country hits here).

 

While we celebrate acts of reclamation when they’re successful, the truth is they can be scary. You most likely ended up in your current field or profession because you were good at it and experienced enough success to keep going. While that’s a beautiful thing, every day, I encounter women who wonder “what if,” who are curious about what else they may be capable of, or who want to explore other fields. Yet often, they don’t take the risk because they’re worried that they won’t be as good in their new endeavor.

 

Alternatively, it may not be self-censorship holding you back, but somewhere along the line, you were explicitly told that certain things weren’t true of you, or that certain things weren’t for people “like you”, who speak, look, or come from where you come from. You may have heeded those voices and not pursued what you wanted. There’s no shame in that, as Sankofa teaches, it’s never too late to reclaim our hopes, our dreams, and our aspirations.

 

You are entitled to all aspects of yourself from your personal gifts, talents, and abilities, to the histories, traditions, and heritage of the people you descended from. You may not be a musician, but are there personal or professional aspects of your identities that you have yet to explore or engage because they are outside of your proverbial genre? Stepping out can be scary, but the key is having a strategy and support. If you’d like to explore new avenues professionally, consider coaching and book a discovery call below.

 

So First name / Friend, what do you plan on reclaiming? What will be your Sankofa act? Hit reply and let me know.

 

Until next week,