Video: ‘Same Different’ — Students prepare annual Sankofa performance
Co-director Jourdan Fanning ’14 of Memphis, Tenn., and spoken-word artist Courtney Parsons ’15 of Atlanta, Ga., comment on the upcoming Sankofa performance on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Featuring a glimpse into rehearsals for this year’s production, titled H.O.M.E. (“Honoring Our Motherland Eternally”), the video includes a scene from a spoken-word performance by Parsons and Alex Bolden ’15 of Cleveland, Ohio.
“We’re one and the same,” speaks Parsons. “We’re far beyond similar,” responds Bolden. “Same,” she says. “Different,” he says. “I celebrate where I come from. I am what I am.”
The student production Sankofa, held annually on the evening of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and this year co-directed by Jourdan Fanning ’14 and Bethel Kifle ’14, uses the performative arts to explore African diasporic experiences.
The college’s 2014 MLK Day observance, with the theme The Dream 50 Years Later: Who Are We? takes place Sunday, Jan. 19, and Monday, Jan. 20.
Sankofa co-directors Bethel Kifle ’14 of Chicago, Ill., and Jourdan Fanning ’14 of Memphis, Tenn., confer during rehearsal in Schaeffer Theatre. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)
