PLENTY magazine FALL/WINTER 2020 | Page 14

a time to remember

A frican Americans who embrace their history have adopted a concept from the Akan people of Ghana : sankofa , a call to go back and retrieve something valuable before it gets left behind . The symbol of sankofa is a bird that moves confidently forward even as it looks backwards to see where it ’ s been . “ When the three of us set out to write a history of the African American town of Sugarland , we likewise found ourselves looking to the past and future at once , with a humbling awareness of the responsibility we owe to both ,” remarks Gwen .

This fall , the Sugarland Ethno- History Project is pleased to announce the publication of I Have Started for Canaan : The Story of the
Photos , this page : Annie Mason and Lloyd Coates , Jr ., were among the young people from Sugarland who had portraits taken at photo studios in Baltimore and the District of Columbia . Photos courtesy of the Sugarland Ethno-History Project .

Sugarland

by Gwen Reese , Suzanne Johnson and Jeff Sypeck
Heritage Montgomery has supported the publication of two upcoming books about the history of African American communities and slavery in Montgomery County . This article and the one following speak to the historical roots explored in detail in these publications .
14 plenty I autumn harvest 2020