ABOUT US AND WHAT WE DO

Sankofa African Heritage Awareness, Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit public charity institute that encourages the teaching and studying of African and Diasporic Studies nationwide. The organization is the offspring of the former J. C. Winston Publishers Group, Inc. which within a span of 30 years, produced more than 1000 titles and literary materials primarily dealing with African-American and African Diasporic Studies. (See Bookstore page). Most notably are: The Original African Heritage Study Bible and The Original African Heritage Study Bible Encyclopedia and Concordance; the former, since the appearing of the first edition in 1993, has sold more than 1,000,000 copies worldwide. Another watershed achievement of the Organization was the Sankofa African Heritage Museum, a 30,000 Sq.ft. edifice that housed more than 350 pieces of prize and rare collections of African art and sculptures that are now shared among 50 colleges and universities across the nation. The present organizational structure is headed by James W. Peebles, Ph.D., the Board Chairman, and six members Board Committee who meet quarterly to plan, evaluate and chart the directions of the Organization.

ARTICLES AND BI-LAWS of the SANKOFA:

THE SANKOFA African Heritage Awareness, Inc. operates and functions accordingly to the following objectives:

Section I. To promote and encourage student- interest to choose African and African Diaspora Studies as a major discipline in an institute of higher learning that offers and instructs courses in the new-key perspectives demonstrating Africa’s unique relationship to global world resources, industrial progress and growing economic development.

Section II- To inspire writers, historians, teachers and researchers to reconstruct with accuracy Africa’s historicity, dissolving and dissipating the tainted myths and degrading untruths that are still passed on from one generation to another.

Section III-To motivate student- interest in selecting African and Africana Studies as a major discipline with the objective of obtaining a professional degree in education to properly engage in public or private classroom teaching.

Section IV-To enlighten librarians and school officials both public and private to consider instituting programs and materials that project the proper imagery of the diaspora which would improve cultural diversity and race relations as students better understand the varying cultures that exist within the society and further help to mitigate degrees of xenophobia.

Section V- To award small scholarships and financial aid to those students who matriculate in schools of higher learning with a major in African and Africana Studies, and maintain the proper grade average that is required or designated by the institution in which the student has matriculated.

Some basic SANKOFA accomplishments and current tasks:
1.Partnering and assisting local colleges and intercultural groups to become more active and concerned regarding the International Annual MAAFA Remembrance Day of the Abolition of the Slave Trade, August 23. If the scheduled date is inconvenient, secure a date that’s convenient.

2.Supplying a list of appropriate and suitable speakers for special occasions for public affairs or private institutions. Too often, African Americans do not critique or select presenters that are historically competent when it comes to being “Keepers of the Diasporic Traditions”.
3.Maintaning an online Afrocentric list (see Research and Resources) of suitable and approved titles for individual or group research, study and cultural growth.
4.Offering emergency *surrogate support to any student enrolled in African Diasporic and International Studies
5.Instructing *African drumming and traditional dance classes for recreational and/or for therapeutic means of restoring “el duende” the true source of African spirituality.
6.Counseling and advising religious organizations seeking to establish missions in the diaspora on how to avoid the old and trite concepts of “paternalism.”

Our assistance depends largely on the geographical locale, the situational conditions of the recipients, the attitude of local, and civic  government and to what degree are local school funds available. Many of our projects are conducted abroad where there is little or no support except International intervention. For example:

Los Ninos Marginados , “Children on the Outside” is a special project that has been in operation even before Sankofa (SAHA) was structurally organized. From this effort, marginalized children in various diasporic regions have been supported. Below is a listing of the following countries: Santiago, Chile; Kingston, Jamaica; Accra, Ghana; Lusaka, Namibia; Harare, Zimbabwe; San Jose, Costa Rica;  Montreal,Canada, and various cities in Mexico and Israel.

Please view images on this page:
Other international locations where support was either through gift-packages, shipped educational supplies and/or personal correspondence via cultural exchange clubs: Madrid, Spain; Paris, France; Lima, Peru; St Croix, Virgin Islands; Asuncion, Paraguay; London, England; Buenos Aries, Argentina; Caracas, Venezuela; Barbados; Geneva, Switzerland and presently, Santiago de Cuba. Browse this page often to view photographic changes.

Our work is publicly supported by special gifts and donations from individuals, businesses large and small and by The James and Jill Zarend-Peebles Foundation.