Sankofa: "it is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten”. How healing between the generations might begin, on Planet A
What might an intergenerational inquiry for Planet A involve? By which we mean: how could a reckoning with the destructive past of modern times, and the ecological civilisation possible for the future, happen between the young and the old? What are the great acts of storytelling and imagination and empathy required?
We have found a partial answer in this new UNESCO project, the Collective Healing Initiative (PDF download). This is an extract from their one pager (and above is an explanatory video for the whole project):
The Imperative of Intergenerational Inquiry
The partners of the UNESCO Collective Healing Initiative believe that to address historical trauma, seek relational restoration, and aspire for systemic transformation, it requires youth-led or youth- initiated intergenerational inquiries in the transatlantic communities.
Sankofa symbol
These inquiries are rooted in the value of ‘Sankofa’, an African myth that stresses the importance of remembering the past, and recovering and restoring the wisdom and knowledge accumulated from the previous generations to benefit the present, and guide the journey into the future. [Sankofa is often associated with the proverb, “Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi," which translates as: "It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten." - ed]
Intergenerational inquiry can enable the community to reintegrate histories, reconnect with traditional wisdom and cultural and spiritual practices of resilience and caring, and re-story promising human futures.
Furthermore, intergenerational inquiry is a key to humanity’s becoming whole, experiencing well-being, ending these cycles of destruction, and regenerating conditions for ecological flourishing. Hence the intergenerational inquiry aims to:
explore community histories and lived realities connected to the transatlantic slavery, colonialism, and post-colonial capitalist legacies
avoid over-simplifying cultural traditions and stereotyping the experiences of formerly enslaved and formerly colonised
gather stories of strengths, cultural wisdom and indigenous (spiritual) practices of resilience, resistance, and regeneration
re-connect with these place-based ‘treasures’ as the starting point for the journey of collective healing, well-being, justice, and co-flourishing with nature
re-story a vision for a more humane and caring world
The Intergenerational Inquiry particularly empowers young people to initiate and enter into dialogue with the community’s elders. The methodologies for intergenerational inquiry will be co-created with young people who will be supported by local organisations and international partners.
The young people will also be guided by scholars and researchers in terms of how to apply decolonial values and the arts of listening and dialogue in capturing narratives, documenting them, and presenting and disseminating emergent stories of resilience, resistance, restoration and regeneration.
Youth-Led Political Process
Collective healing, social justice, and holistic well-being is a political process as much as a grassroot endeavour. As a political process, it engages social policies, institutional practices, and decision- making. Through engaging in intergenerational inquiries, young people can examine, analyse and identify structural conditions that perpetuate traumas in the first place, and imagine and re-story systemic transformation necessary for promising human futures.
This political process is located in embodied, culturally enriched, spiritual responses to trauma. Somatic, emotional, ethical, and spiritual practices of healing and well-being help liberate younger generations from being defined by traumas and alienation. Young people are empowered to lead and partake in loving and caring political action.
Co-Creation
Local organisations are collaborating in launching pilot intergenerational inquiries in communities in the US, the Caribbean, Colombia, the Netherlands, and Africa. Each partner will identify 5 young people aged (19-35) who will join the collective healing initiative coordinating team in co-creating and co-developing the methodologies for intergenerational inquiry, with the view to launch the pilot in September.
Through the support of local organisations and international partners, young people will practise the arts of listening and dialogue, collect stories, synthesise narratives, develop themes, and shared learnings more widely. The wisdom, knowledge and practices thus emerged will also serve the basis for community-based healing/well-being workshops and policy recommendations.
To get involved in this project, please visit this site.