| Author: | Makeda Kumasi | ISBN: | 9781514450024 |
| Publisher: | Xlibris US | Publication: | January 15, 2016 |
| Imprint: | Xlibris US | Language: | English |
| Author: | Makeda Kumasi |
| ISBN: | 9781514450024 |
| Publisher: | Xlibris US |
| Publication: | January 15, 2016 |
| Imprint: | Xlibris US |
| Language: | English |
In March 2014, I came across a professional development grant offered by the University of California, Riverside. I had just been hired to teach West African dance in the Department of Dance as a physical education class for the general student body. With all my credentials in dance, I felt compelled to visit the motherland to gain firsthand knowledge and education on the subjects of West African dance and culture. This sabbatical journey was a long-awaited dream. The twelve-day sabbatical included Senegals cultural destinations: Dakar, Pink Lake, Saint Louis, Saly/Mbour, and a tour of the Door of No Return on Beer (Gore) Island. While there, I maintained three daily journals: a written journal, a video journal, and a sketch journal. From those works, I created a video documentary that includes the guided tour of the Slave Mansion on Beer Island, a greeting card collection called the Sankofa Collection that features the twelve sketches and a photo of me jumping into the ocean at Beer Island, and a photo poetry book titled I See Hip-Hop Afrika, as well as this book, which is my twelve-day account of the journey. Travel along with me as I take you through the rich cultural countrysides and cities of Senegal. You will laugh, you will cry, you will be intrigued by the people and places I encounter, as well as enjoy the sketches I create from each days experience. My prayer is that you find something useful in these accounts. Something that will help you see the world, and our place in it, a little clearer. A hope that in these words you find some peace in knowing and loving Africa. And in this book, you are consoled by the beauty that is our homeland.
In March 2014, I came across a professional development grant offered by the University of California, Riverside. I had just been hired to teach West African dance in the Department of Dance as a physical education class for the general student body. With all my credentials in dance, I felt compelled to visit the motherland to gain firsthand knowledge and education on the subjects of West African dance and culture. This sabbatical journey was a long-awaited dream. The twelve-day sabbatical included Senegals cultural destinations: Dakar, Pink Lake, Saint Louis, Saly/Mbour, and a tour of the Door of No Return on Beer (Gore) Island. While there, I maintained three daily journals: a written journal, a video journal, and a sketch journal. From those works, I created a video documentary that includes the guided tour of the Slave Mansion on Beer Island, a greeting card collection called the Sankofa Collection that features the twelve sketches and a photo of me jumping into the ocean at Beer Island, and a photo poetry book titled I See Hip-Hop Afrika, as well as this book, which is my twelve-day account of the journey. Travel along with me as I take you through the rich cultural countrysides and cities of Senegal. You will laugh, you will cry, you will be intrigued by the people and places I encounter, as well as enjoy the sketches I create from each days experience. My prayer is that you find something useful in these accounts. Something that will help you see the world, and our place in it, a little clearer. A hope that in these words you find some peace in knowing and loving Africa. And in this book, you are consoled by the beauty that is our homeland.
