Since '98
Founded by Shirikiana and Haile Gerima and named after the internationally acclaimed film SANKOFA they produced. It's symbol, the Sankofa Bird, looks backward constantly checking as she moves into the future.
Sankofa Video, Books & Cafe is liberated territory that hopes to be a place where thoughtful consideration of the past and future can take place via books, films, and programming particularly generated by and about people of African Descent.
UPCOMING EVENTS
FRIDAY, jANUARY 24 @ 8:00
REEL CINEMA FILM SERIES
Négritude: A Dialogue Between Wole Soyinka and Senghor
Director: Manthia Diawara
This imagined dialogue between Léopold Sédar Senghor, one of the founding fathers of Négritude, and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka was reconstructed almost entirely from archival materials. It probes the relevance of the concept of Négritude against the views of its many critics, not only to the decolonization and independence movements of the 1950's and 1960's but also to an understanding of the contemporary artistic and political scenes of nationalism, religious intolerance, multiculturalism, the exodus of Africans and other populations from the South, and xenophobic immigration policies in the West."
The Sankofa Reel Cinema Film Series hosts monthly $5 screenings of special films with significance to the global pan African movement.
SATURDAY, jANUARY 25 @ 3:00
New Arrivals
Opening Hours
Store Hours
Mon-Sat: 11:00am - 8:00pm
Sun: 11:00am - 6:00pm
Cafe Hours
Mon-Thu: 9:00am - 10:00pm
Fri & Sat: 9:00am - 11:30pm
Sun: 9:00am - 9:00pm
visit us
We are located across the street from the Howard Business School, minutes away from the historic U Street and Shaw neighborhoods. Metrorail stations Petworth, U Street, Columbia Heights and Shaw-Howard are located approximately .8 miles away. 70 & 79 buses offer convenient stops nearby.