In March 2014, I came across a professional development grant offered by the University of California,
Riverside. I had just been hired to teach West African dance in the Department of Dance as a physical
education class for the general student body. With all my credentials in dance, I felt compelled to visit the
motherland to gain firsthand knowledge and education on the subjects of West African dance and culture. This
sabbatical journey was a long-awaited dream.
The twelve-day sabbatical included Senegals cultural destinations: Dakar, Pink Lake, St. Louis, Saly/Mbour,
and a tour of the Door of No Return on Beer (Gore) Island. While there, I maintained three daily journals:
a written journal, a video journal, and a sketch journal. From those works, I created a video documentary
that included the guided tour of the Slave Mansion on Beer Island, a greeting card collection called the
Sankofa Collection, which features the twelve sketches and a photo of me jumping into the ocean at Beer
Island, a nonfiction book titled 12 Days in Senegal: An Artists Journey, which is my twelve-day account of the
sabbatical, as well as this picture poetry book.
My vision was to create a nonfiction book for young readers and adults alike that allows them to travel along
with me through the rich cultural countrysides and cities of Senegal. In this book, I return to my craft as a
spoken word artist, poetically capturing the beauty, intrigue, and joy of Africa.
Circa l’autore
Makeda Kumasi is founder and artistic director of the Umoja Ensemble of the Inland Empire and cofounder of We 3 Productions, which she developed with her sister, Alisha Mcdonald, in 2001. She has been a featured spoken word artist, including performances at the Ford Amphitheater in Hollywood and the Ogdensburg Theater in New York, as well as television appearances on BET’s “Fly Poet” and MTV’s “Starting Over.” As a West African dancer, she has performed with two prominent Southern California African dance companies, Abalaye; an Orange County arts group; and Niancho Eniyale African performers. She also appeared on season 1 of “So You Think You Can Dance?” television competition.
Makeda’s interests in dance include traditional African and popular dances of African origin, from Belize, Central America. She has studied various other dance styles, including jazz, modern, belly dance, African Caribbean, hip-hop, and praise dance. In 2014, she received a professional development grant from UC Riverside to study West African dance in Senegal. However, she gives credit to her master teachers in America, Nzingha Camara and Mareme Faye.
Makeda has received other awards and recognitions, including California Art Scholar in Dance, Phyllis E Williams’ Writers’ Grant, Top Spoken Word Artist Los Angeles Black Business Expo Urban Idol Competition, California State University, Fullerton, African American Faculty and Staff Association Scholarship, University of Southern California Black Alumni Association Scholar, Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations Presidential Service Pin, and the Ida Mae Holland Playwright Scholarship.
Makeda holds a master of fine arts (MFA) in playwriting from the University of Southern California, a master of education (MED) from the University of Phoenix, and a bachelor of arts (BA) in communications from California State University, Fullerton. She is also wife and a mother of three beautiful children.
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