Sankofa: Learn from the Past
Sankofa means 'go back and get it' - wisdom from the past is needed for the future. Looking back is not regressive but essential for progress.
Sankofa means 'go back and get it' - wisdom from the past is needed for the future. Looking back is not regressive but essential for progress.
Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi - It is not wrong to go back for what you forgot.
Akan Wisdom (Ghana)
Written about in
- What African traditions say about elders and ancestors
Sankofa means going back to fetch what was left behind, and it treats retrieval as a step forward rather than a retreat. It is the reason elders are consulted about the future and not only about the past.
- What African wisdom says about failure
Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi — it is not wrong to go back for what you forgot. Sankofa licenses the move most people are embarrassed to make after a failure: returning to something they had already left behind, which the Akan insist is not regression.