Sankofa
What does “Sankofa” mean?
Sample Answer: “Go back and get it.”
What year did the Civil War period begin?
Answer: 1861 (or during the 1860s)
What does “Reconstruction” mean?
Sample Answer: The time after the Civil War when the country rebuilt
Where did the Skinner family live?
Answer: Edenton, North Carolina
What continent does Sankofa come from?
Answer: Africa (specifically Ghana)
What was the main cause of the Civil War?
Sample Answer: Disagreement about slavery
Name two types of jobs formerly enslaved people took after freedom.
Sample Answers: Farmers, carpenters, sailors, cooks, bakers, skilled workers
How many enslaved people did the Skinner family hold?
Answer: As many as 185
What does the egg represent in the Sankofa bird symbol?
Sample Answer: The wisdom and knowledge of the past
What is “benevolent paternalism”?
Sample Answer: When powerful people act like they’re helping others but still control them
What is sharecropping?
Sample Answer: Farming land that belongs to someone else and sharing crops as payment
Who was Richard Skinner?
Sample Answer: A formerly enslaved person who became a wage earner and owned his own home
Why is knowing your family’s history like having strong roots?
Sample Answer: It helps you grow strong and resilient, just like a tree with deep roots
Name one way the Skinner family’s enslaved people showed resistance.
Answers: Escape attempts, work slowdowns, or running away
Name two institutions formerly enslaved people built in their communities.
Sample Answers: Churches, schools, neighborhoods
What were Edward and Febbie’s main occupations?
Answer: Farmers/sharecroppers
Name one way the Sankofa concept connects to learning about the Skinner family.
Sample Answer: We look back at their story to understand how it shapes us today
When did the Emancipation Proclamation free enslaved people?
Answer: January 1, 1863
How did formerly enslaved people show they were building strong communities?
Sample Answer: They owned homes, created businesses, started churches and schools, and participated in community organizations like the “Burying Society”
Name three things Febbie Skinner did to support her family.
Sample Answers: Raised chickens, sold eggs, made bread and butter, grew vegetables, made sure each child had a cow