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Born Ricardo Tomlinson in Manchester Jamaica, the artist and
community leader Sankofa immigrated to Canada in 1987.
Shortly after his arrival in Toronto, he found himself rejected by
his father and stepmother and ended up in various
shelters. Despite his struggles, Sankofa (whose name
means “return to the past in order to move
forward”) discovered his voice and soul…which
he began to express in dub poetry. As he began his
post-secondary education, he embraced a responsibility to educate
and uplift other youths in his community, to reveal to others the
strength of their voices, even as he was just discovering his own.
Today he is a strong advocate of the arts, youth, education and social development. He hosts “Urban Griots” and “News Now” on York University’s radio station CHRY and is a founding member of The Westside Cipher, a collective of Toronto’s own storytellers and poets. In the dub poet scene, he has dazzled audiences with messages of encouragement, emphasizing spirituality, education, economics, politics, cooperation and love in the African Diaspora.
In addition to the contribution he makes to peace and justice through his artistic work, Sankofa has either created or been closely involved with numerous community organizations including Prospect Primary Alumni Association and the Jamaican Canadian Association Youth Affairs Committee. In 2004 he was inspired to create Sankofa.In.Cipher, an enterprise based on the principal of Umoja (Kiswahili, meaning “cooperative economics”) to enhance the spiritual, educational, economic and socio-political strength of Africans throughout the world. Proceeds from his organization have been used to fund several local organizations including the African Canadian Heritage Association, African Image Makers, It Takes a Village and many others.
Sankofa recently traveled to Ghana to honour his African roots and reclaim his past. He took part in a traditional naming ceremony which affirmed his new name (Kofi Aboagye Akrofi Sankofa) and returned with a deeper sense of himself and his path, a stronger voice and a strengthened soul.
In a recent article he summed up his life. “Personally I hope to be able to leave this world a better place for the next seven generations of African children. I want to be satisfied knowing I did everything possible to help my people who needed it the most.” (Canada Extra)
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