Sankofa

"Going to the past, remembering it, and with it, turning to the future." ~ Clarke Fountain. This quote summarizes and defines the title and character of the movie, Sankofa. This film is a story centering on an eye-opening experience for an African-American woman’s bitter hardships and realities of her peoples’ collective past. Although the main and most recognizable theme of Sankofa focuses on the significance of going back to the past in order to comprehend the present, there are several themes that one can grasp from this concept, quote, and viewing of this selection. Other than the obvious, themes that can be taken from this movie in comparison to people today and exemplify the point of going to the past and turning to your future is to realize racism still exists today, change and prioritize morals and values as an African-American, and understand to achieve having freedom to be who and what one chooses as an individual one must obtain individuality.
Racism, although very noticeable and visible in the film, is often overlooked and not as in the forefront in today’s society to the point that one could say some people today fail to realize it still exists. Sankofa displays racism towards Blacks from Whites as well as fellow African-Americans. Blacks disowning their own because of what whites and slave-owners have influenced them to believe, like it is the wrong race to want to be or be apart of. These whites had instilled in them that blacks were meant to work for whites and that to be powerful or worth anything you must behave, be around, and believe as they did. Racism is so powerful a movement and action that it has been able to uphold over time and hundreds of years to still be in existence in today’s society. Some whites and blacks today still believe that success isn’t reached unless you are working and living around wealthy whites, as well as them believing to speak proper is to communicate like “whites”. Today there are lighter complexioned blacks that...