Sankofa: A Poem

If you pay attention, History is everywhere! In Brighton today I saw this necklace! Isn't she a beauty? I recognized her immediately because like my people, they took her from her homeland and changed her identity!

Attaching a price tag to her! Where my ancestors originated from, her name was Sankofa! When they brought her here, they changed everything about her!

"Europeanized" her! Calling her by her slave Master's name; Genoa! But I saw her and reclaimed her, with the hopes of telling her story! Your roots are in the Motherland and reclaim your throne!

Shed that European skin; recall your past....so you'll know where you're going! That is who you are, who you always have been......

Your slave name is Genoa, but Sankofa is who you are deep within!

Originally written October 18, 2014

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ABOUT CANDIS JOHNSON

Candis Johnson is a thirty-eight-year-old native of Camden, NJ. She attended Camden public schools and graduated from Creative Arts High School in 2006, where she majored in Creative Writing. In 2010, she earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communications with a minor in Political Science from Delaware State University, a historically Black university (HBCU).

In March 2020, she completed her Master’s degree in Business Administration from Strayer University.

Candis is part of Bruce George’s globally recognized movement, Genius is Common. She is the author of several poetry books, including Splurging on Poetry, Somebody Had to Say It, and the literary magazine anthology series S.O.U.L (Say on Universal Languages).

Additionally, she has been a contributing writer for SwagHer Magazine for four years and is currently a guest writer for Sistah Magazine.