Project Sankofa: A Rites of Passage Program is about going back and reclaiming traditions of the past in order to establish new standards of normalcy. A paradigm shift is required, and it must begin in the minds of the youth who will be given new standards of excellence to model. Rites of Passage programs are designed to accomplish that objective. Such ideas, however, will appear strange to a people who have been conditioned to reject their past and now Live precariously in the present moment. Such ideas will be rejected by those lacking understanding of Afrikan culture. These fears must not stand in the way of the work which is being done to enhance the lives of current and future generations of Afrikan youth.
We owe it to our ancestors to reclaim the valued traditions of the past, and in doing so we honor ourselves. We owe it to our descendants to light the path that they must walk and in doing so we honor our ancestors. The ancestors, ourselves, and our descendants all are part of the spiritual circle which is held together by the bonds of cultural continuity. Rites of Passage are the crucibles in which those bonds are forged and dispersed throughout the generations.