Sankofa (pronounced SAHN-koh-fah) is a word in the Twi language of Ghana meaning “to retrieve.” The Sankofa bird appears frequently in the art of the Akan people of Ghana. It is usually represented with the bird’s head turned looking backwards while its body faces forward. The bird is often depicted carefully holding a precious egg in its mouth–thought to represent gems of knowledge passed on from one generation to the next.
In order to know where we’re going, we need to understand and gather the lessons from where we’ve been.
“In order for us to play a role in changing Rochester, we need to learn where it started.” –Briana Williams, TE Youth History Ambassador
Clarissa Street was our village. Young people should have inherited its wealth of community connectedness, joy and intergenerational investments in Black-owned homes and businesses. Instead, Greater Rochester has been living with the consequences of undermining and losing our village: we can see this in the inequity, disconnection, poverty, and violence that haunts our region today.
Unfortunately, these consequences have even disrupted the loving celebration that is the Clarissa Street Reunion. Elders from the Clarissa Street Reunion Committee reached out for help with preventing fights that began erupting among youth at the annual event. Teen Empowerment responded by engaging youth as leaders to share the powerful meaning of the Reunion with their peers.
Through the pandemic, the effort evolved to become a full-on intergenerational partnership that began with youth interviewing elders. These interviews have developed into a nationally award-winning documentary that weaves the elders’ oral histories together with youth energy, creativity and drive to tap once again into the magic that was the Clarissa Street village.
Clarissa Uprooted: The Exhibit shares what youth and elders have unearthed together since 2019, with the inspired assistance of many wonderful partners. We invite YOU–the visitor–to explore where your own family history connects with this story and to reimagine what it will take to repair harm and heal our future.
Artwork: Athesia Benjamin. Photographer: Jennifer Banister.
bobby johnson (born in Third Ward in 1929) has been called a Bebop poet who often performed his poetry accompanied by music, including himself on kazoo.
Youth paid tribute to bobby and his beloved Pythodd at the original Clarissa Uprooted exhibit in June 2022. He died in November 2022.
“death of a friend (chinch-e-moe) and our favorite people” (5:36 min) (1984)
Poet: bobby johnson (1929 – 2022)
Video: Mary Gail Walker
Copyright: Writers & Books, Inc.
Video production: Moiet James
TE Youth Organizers & Youth History Ambassadors give a tour of our city through their eyes.
Video production: Erik Wilson
