Used as a way to preserve the past, document the present and influence the future, storytelling in art has historically been a cornerstone of African culture, and Sankofa Foundation Incorporated is working to keep that tradition alive.
Based in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, Sankofa Foundation Inc. is a nonprofit organization encouraging storytelling through music with its inaugural KidzAFest Cultural Exchange Aug. 17-31. The two weeks will feature performances by South Africa’s Mzansi Youth Choir and Ugandan dance team Ghetto Kids, hoping to foster meaningful human connection and inspire young audiences to utilize the arts.
“We use the art of storytelling to share morals, customs and laws…so what we are hoping to achieve is to bring this storytelling in an entertainment form that will attract the kids,” Lois Aba Kwakyewaa Yankah, founder of Sankofa Foundation Inc., told The Informer.
In addition to performances throughout the D.C. area, the cultural exchange program will debut its Kidz Theater Production, a collaboration between Ghetto Kids and Mzansi Youth Choir, hosted by renowned Ghanaian actor Adjetey Anang, at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall on Aug. 30. The show, a display of African folktales, histories and contemporary accounts, is meant to share values of humility, love and empathy while showcasing the evolution of African dance and music.
“We want our youth to start thinking about where music is headed,” Yankah continued.
In an age when access to social media increases the opportunity to have the entire world at one’s fingertips, Anang hopes the play will inspire the young performers and their audience to remain proud of their roots while appreciating other cultures and rejecting Westernization.
After almost three decades of experience in the entertainment industry, the actor has witnessed many prioritize money over producing authentic art, which fuels his desire to influence younger generations to avoid this mindset. He believes highlighting and celebrating Africa on an international stage, and acknowledging the continent’s significance in entertainment, is a necessary step in changing the field.
“What happens most of the time is that identity is lost,” Anang told The Informer. “We add color to everything we do [through] the values of love, values of oneness… and the value of prioritizing the development and growth of one another.”
More than Music: A Lesson in Humanity and Humility
Founded in 2003, the Mzansi Youth Choir has been deemed the best show choir in South Africa, using music as a way to give underprivileged youth a chance to perform on local and global stages.
In 2023, the choir appeared on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” (2006-Present) and received the first Audience Golden Buzzer, which served as a way for audience members to send an act directly to the live show and bypass possible elimination from the judges.
The choir was formed after founders Jannie and Marina Zaaiman were involved in a hijacking incident by six adolescents. Combining their love for music and desire to keep the youth off the streets by introducing them to a new passion, the Zaaimans created the choir and refrained from requiring any entry or participation fees.
Inspired by the choir’s humble beginnings, Yankah hopes the founders’ mission will carry over to the international stage, demonstrating to the community that it is possible to make an impact with limited resources.
“People are so focused on what they don’t have or what they need that they forget what they do have,” Yankah told The Informer. “These kids, they focused on what they had– their art [and] their craft– and that took them places where now they are able to negotiate to get what they need.”
Sidumo Nyamezele, the choir’s music director, and choreographer Alfred Phakati are adamant about upholding the philosophy of Ubuntu, which emphasizes the importance of prioritizing collectivism over individualism, and acknowledging the responsibility human beings have to each other and the world around them.
Through emphasizing the need for community service and remembering one’s roots, Nyamezele and Phakati keep the young performers grounded and aware of the humanity within themselves and others. They hope the sense of humility garnered from following this philosophy will benefit future generations.
“These are future leaders who need to be equipped and nurtured for when the time comes for them to take a lead,” Nyamezele told The Informer. “There are sound men and women that could change this landscape to be a better place for generations to come, so that when they pass the baton to other kids, they could do a sterling job in setting a fertile ground for them as well.”
Turning Talent Into a Lifeline
Ghetto Kids founder Kuvamu Dauda is also dedicated to enriching the minds of younger generations through music and using the medium to create an example for adolescents worldwide. In watering the seeds of the youth’s talent, Dauda is continuing a cycle of mentorship that he is a part of.
When the dance team’s founder was in primary school, the coach of the local soccer team recognized his talents and helped him pursue the sport. This nurturing of Dauda’s skills ended up pushing him to attend secondary school, and later college, where he learned the power of storytelling through music and movement.
“I promised that when I grew up, I would help one child,” Dauda told The Informer. “I learned that instead of talking to people directly … you can use music [and] you can use dance to tell a story.”
After a dance tutor told Dauda that music and art would be more impactful than soccer, he diverted from the sport. He found a group of children who hadn’t paid their school fees, taught them how to dance and then encouraged them to dance in public in exchange for tips from onlookers.
When a television presenter saw them, she informed them of a contest taking place where the winners would be awarded a goat. Dauda and the team he trained won, sold the goat and used the money they received for it to help pay their tuition. Since 2007, Ghetto Kids has been a pillar in helping underprivileged youth cultivate their talent to inspire hope for positive change– an attitude that captured the attention of Yankah and Sankofa Foundation Inc.
“Anytime these kids mount the stage, the joy, the excitement is just so contagious that you start dancing… and getting excited with them,” Yankah told The Informer. “In their very own lives, they don’t have it all, but they’re making the best of their art.”
By participating in the cultural exchange, encouraging youth from all around the world to use their craft to touch audience members’ souls, inspiring hope and mutual development, artistic leaders like Phakati are committed to reminding young generations that they can be the face of change.
“They have played the most important role to shape our country,” Phakiti told The Informer, referring to demonstrations rejecting apartheid in South Africa in 1976. “I think that’s why we feel like it’s very important this message is carried by the youth, because they’ve got that power to change, shape and sculpt something.”