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 Coxx
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Salim (a.k.a Earth Griot) is an original founding member of Sankonscious. Originally from Chicago, Salim is dancer; percussionist, poet and librarian. He received his Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree from Columbia College and his Master of Library Science degree from Clark Atlanta University. Salim named and co-founded the Sankonscious Percussion Ensemble in 2007 along with Kwame Afari. He contributes to the group as a drummer and dancer. For Salim the drum and the dance serve as forms of healing.
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.