Sankofa Contest (Exploring Folk Traditions on Steem). An Introduction and A Call to Enter

How It Started

Many moons ago, an idea was conceived of a competition that will seek to harness the creative potentials of folk traditions from around the world, by sharing them on the steem blockchain, to educate, entertain, and contribute to the pool of quality contents.

"Sankofa Creative Competition" as was called then, was an outlet for a lot of creatives, and brought to fore different perspectives that were unique to people from different tribes. It sought to explore proverbs, fables, moonlight tales, dirges, folk songs and incantations, to be presented in a style that gave them a universal appeal while not robbing them of their originality.

Why "Sankofa"?

The choice of "Sankofa" is precise. Sankofa is one of the Adinkra symbols that was developed by the Akan people (settled in present day Ghana in West Africa) many centuries ago. Sankofa holds that to move forward we have to "go back and get it." Its symbol is a mythical bird looking backwards over its shoulder, but with its feet firmly planted and facing forward.

"SAN(return)-KO(go)-FA(look, seek, take) is a symbol of the Akan people's inquisition, quest for knowledge; with an inclination to pry deeply into one's history, with careful observation and examination of events, so as to chart a future that is both dignifying, and proven."
_{- Sankofa Contest Post, Steemit.com}

It is in looking back at the past that we can advance into the future.

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Looking back does not mean holding unto the baggage that should be left where they belong. Looking back is in tapping on the prestige that our ancestry carry, borrowing inspiration from our forebears, and learning from the mistakes we made in the past. That is what Sankofa is about.

In Africa the wisdom of a man can be gauged by how much proverbs he employs in his conversations. Since proverbs are the "palm oil with which words are eaten," the aged and wise employ this smoldering spoken art form that has the effect of an aphrodisiac on the mind, when they are saying the most important things. But this tradition is getting its slow burial. The idea of Sankofa is to explore many of such heritages and preserve them on the indelible blockchain, for posterity to reckon.

In addition to proverbs we will seek to encourage the sharing of folk songs, rituals, incantations, tales and fables, dirges, legends of Ananse, herna art, haiku. Think of it, we will tap it. From across many cultures around the world.

The Contest

For this round of the contest we are going to explore proverbs. Share any favourite Proverb in any native language. Tell us its interpretation if it is not in English. Share the application/lessons of/from the proverb. Be very creative about its presentation. The best entries win some STEEM.

For inspiration, read this presentation of an Igbo proverb by @edumurphy in a previous round: "Okenye Tocha O Chere Ibe Ya (He That Has Grown Must Watch Others Do The Same)".

And "The World Through Tinted Glasses", an English proverb by @raj808.

Lastly, here is @madmaxfury's "Tragedy Can Bring Low Even The Mighty (An Igbo Proverb)".

We would recommend that you read at least one of those to get an idea of what is expected.

Entry Guidelines

A few entry requirements:

• Please only ORIGINAL works are accepted. Every form of plagiarism is sternly frowned at and leads to disqualification.
• Entries should be a new post that uses the #sankofa tag.
• It is not a requirement, but resteeming this post will help its visibility and encourage participation. So will upvoting this post and following the @sankofa account.
• Submissions close at the payout of this post. That is in 7 days.

Prize

First Place Prize is 8 STEEM + 30% SBD payout from this announcement post.

Second Place Prize is 2 STEEM + 20% SBD payout from this announcement post.
Plus, a brilliant entry will more likely get the attention of curators.

Goodluck