The Sankonscious Precussion Ensemble
THE STORY OF SANKONSCIOUS
The Sankonscious Percussion Ensemble was originally founded as Ezikiwe Aisha in 2007. The group was born of a drum circle that met at Joan’s Caribbean Restaurant every Friday night. A core of men (and some women) would come to the restaurant with a djembe, djun djun, songba, or even a conga. Together they would experiment and compose syncopated drumbeats until the restaurant closed. As special events took place at the restaurant, more people heard the group play and began asking them to drum at their events. The Sankonscious Percussion Ensemble evolved from there.
Meet the director
Meet the Ensemble
​​Salim’s African dance journey began in 1992 while he was a student at Chicago’s
Columbia College. His first instructor, Darlene Blackburn, opened him up to a whole
new world as it related to African dance as well as the dances of the African diaspora.
After graduating in 1993, he continued to study taking classes with Muntu Dance
Theater and Najawa Dance Corps. He also further honed his dance skills by studying
modern, ballet and jazz dance. One of his most cherished experiences was studying
Dunham technique under Tommy Gomez. At the time, Gomez was one of only 3 living
Dunham masters.
Much of Salim’s performance experience came out of doing liturgical dance at
Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ. In 2002 Salim came to Atlanta to earn a
master’s from Clark Atlanta University. While in grad school he started taking African
dance classes with Manga African Dance Co under the direction of Ramatu Sabatt. He
danced with Manga from 2004 to 2008.
During his four years with Manga, Salim began studying the djembe drum. In 2006 he
was invited to participate in a drum circle organized by community activist, Kwame Afari.
It wasn’t long before that drum circle morphed into a percussion ensemble that
performed in and around the city of Atlanta. The group was initially named Ezikiwe-
Aisha. In 2007, Salim renamed the group Sankonscious, which is a contraction of
Sankofa-conscious. The name serves as a reminder to always remember your past
while trying to create a better future.
Salim-aka the earth griot
About the ensemble
Our name
The name is a contraction of the words “sankofa” and “conscious”.
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Sankofa is a word in the Akan language of Ghana that means “Go back and reclaim”. Go back and reclaim the essence of one’s culture. As a group, the Sankonscious Percussion Ensemble seeks to reclaim the cultural essence that was once lost through slavery and colonization. Sankonscious specializes in traditional West African rhythms as well as original drum rhythms and spoken word. Sankonscious is available for all cultural events and is always willing to share the rhythmic gifts that the creator has given.
The mission of the Sankonscious Percussion Ensemble is to uplift; inspire and promote spiritual healing through the rhythm
of the African drum and dance.
The rhythm of the African drum has the power to reach the broken spirit and uplift anyone who is open to receiving the vibe. The Sankonscious Ensemble seeks to uplift others through the rhythm of the African drum. Sankonscious also seeks to inspire others to find their own rhythm from within.