What does the name Sankofa mean?

The term Sankofa is an Akan expression that is translated “Reach back to move forward”. Sankofa Freedom Academy (SFA) believes children of African descent and other scholars of color have absolutely everything they need to achieve academically and live lives as fully actualized human beings who are able to build and maintain healthy communities and establish a just world. Academically applying the principle ofSankofa means SFA will not accept failure or mediocrity”. Remembering always the legacy of the great ones on whose shoulders we stand, scholars, staff, and cultural workers will be reminded to “reach within and back” in order to reconnect with the sources of knowledge and power that will insure academic success and enable scholars to contribute to the communities to which they belong. Thus, SankofaFreedom Academy will use the history, cultural expressions, aesthetics, literature, orature, value systems, and worldview of African and indigeneous diasporan cultures to forge a reconnection between excellence in scholarship, identity, and purpose.