Expert: A. Houston - 9/18/2005

Question
Hi I have a few questions. The questions come from a movie, its a story about slavery, and the movie called Sankofa.

1.) From the movie Sankofa, what essential message is expressed in the odyssey or Rite of Passage of the main character, Mona?

2.) From the movie Sankofa, what did the characters of Nu-Nu, Shango, Joe, Lucy and Noble Ali reveal about the range of African responses to enslavement in the New World?

3.) From the movie Sankofa, did this story provide any new insights into the realities of the slavery period?

4.) From the movie Sankofa, how would you describe Mona's transtition into Shola, and her psycho-spiritual transformation by the time she exits the dungeon at story's conclusion?

Thats all, Thank you!

Answer
1.   Sankofa, which comes from the Akan people of West Africa, Ghana to be exact, literally means to look back.  In other words one must know where they came from in order to know where they are going.  The film provides a layered message about the enslavement of African people, not just physical but emotional, psychological, spiritual, and mental enslavement.  The essential message is one must return to their source to find healing, redemption and freedom.  Although chains may be gone there are still mental shackles that keep people in slavery spiritually, psychologically and otherwise. Mona's journey follows a circular evolution.  Generally speaking an African conception of time is past-present-future at once (see John Mbiti's African Religion for an in depth understanding) its not linear but a continuous circle where those who have passed on communicate with those that are living.  Mona goes back (has a Sankofa experience) to learn about who she is and comes back reborn in the present amongst the living and those spiritual mentors she encountered on her journey back.
2.   The characters you mention reveal a truth about the middle passage, or enslavement of African people that is often overlooked.  African people come from different socioeconomic backgrounds, political perspectives, religions and experiences.  There are some that were free, born into enslavement and those from other parts of the African Diaspora.  In most mainstream films about enslavement there doesn't appear to be much difference in the way people are presented.  Also it shows that plantation rebellions did happen quite often (see Asa Hillard's work on the Maroons for example).
3.   Depending on the perspective of the viewer, of course.  The film provides a harsh yet realistic critique of Christianity, shows the brutality of the abuse people endured and doesn't provide a sympathetic white lead as most mainstream films do.  If one where to read the old slave narratives, and diaries, one would see the film is much more realistic in its depiction of the enslavement period.
4.   Mona is a personal yet, group journey.  I saw this film when it opened and the filmmakers were present and from the discussion afterwards after people regained some composure to speak, they described her as a lost person who takes this journey to find and discover herself and realize she was not free.  Although the physical chains are gone she still had a colonized mentality and sense of self and it was only be returning to her source did she reconnect with her own consciousness.