Welcome!
The Producers
The Culture C.O.-O.P. is strengthening communities one person at a time….
With over 40 years of experience, the Culture C.O.-O.P. offers a framework to help communities, organizations, and businesses become healthier, supportive, and responsive to the needs of all people. Our framework approaches work holistically with the goal of optimizing levels of efficiency and impact.
Director: Sandy Lynne Holman
Studio Creatch
Studio Creatch is an innovative new works factory, collaboratively crafting custom made pieces of animation, puppetry, and live theater.
Co-Founders: Jordan Brownlee & J.R. Wolfe
The Team
Creative/Crew:
Concept by: Sandy Lynne Holman
Director: Jordan Brownlee
Assistant Director: J.R. Wolfe
Stage Manager: Sam Cubbage (VMT)
Production Manager: J.R. Wolfe
Projection Artist: Jordan Brownlee
The Talent:
For the play Sankofa: An adaptation of “Grandpa, is Everything Black Bad?”
Author:
Sandy Lynne Holman
Playwrights:
Jordan Brownlee, Sandy Lynne Holman, J.R. Wolfe
Original Hip-Hop by: Sandy Lynne Holman & M’ster Lewis
Hip-Hop performers: M’ster Lewis and Steven Payan
Actors:
Monthso – Tinaye Mumoke
Grandpa/Marcus Garvey – Corey Winfield
Cheik Anta Diop/James Baldwin – Tylre Allen
Grandma – Jasmine Washington
Dance Groups:
CCAA Dance Co., directed by Marcia McClain
Dzoke and Kids of the World, directed by Dzokerayi Mumoke
African Drumming:
Dzaloe featuring Charles Frost & Charlene Gumbs
Slam Poets:
Denisha Bland & Patrice Hill
Singers:
Samona Whiteside
Local Black Student Unions:
Davis Senior High School
Coordinators: Camica Edwards and Naomi Davis
River City High School
Coordinator: Patrice Griffith
Sponsors & Partners
Our Sponsor:
Funding support for the project was generously provided by The City of Davis Arts and Cultural Affairs Fund
Our Partners:
The Yolo County Office of Education, Davis Media Access
Our Tabling Partners:
The Mary L Stephens Davis Library, Yolo Cares
Shout Outs!
You Rock:
Thanks to all of our Yolo County BSU Students and their Coordinators!
Special Thanks:
Community Elders Marsha Carter and Marilyn Hays, Rachel Hartsough, Jenny Tan, Superintendent Garth Lewis from Yolo County Office of Education and Staff, Autumn Labbe-Renault, James Caballero, Brandy Jones MPH, Mari Carson, Lynda Yancher, Josiah Webb and the Woodland High School BSU, The leadership and staff of the Veterans Memorial Theater.
To our Beloved Community……
About the Play
Sankofa, meaning “go back and fetch it” is a stage adaptation of Sandy Lynne Holman’s award-winning children’s book Grandpa, is everything Black Bad?. Centered around a young boy, Montsho, who has been deeply affected by the anti-blackness all around him, Sankofa emphasizes the importance of knowing the history of one’s cultural heritage.
Montsho arrives at Grandpa’s house for his first Kwanzaa celebration, feeling low. Montsho expresses his confusion concerning the negative associations with the color black as they relate to him and his own dark skin. Grandpa knows just what to do, turning to the family’s Sankofa history book. African diasporic historical figures leap off the pages telling remarkable stories of ancient Kemet, barnstorming, Black Wall Street, and more. Aunties and cousins help bring the seven principles of Kwanzaa to life as Montsho journeys from the gumbo pot in the kitchen to the backyard barbecue. Together they strengthen family bonds and rediscover the rich heritage that comes with being Black.
This beautiful story is sure to leave a lasting impression, whether it be one of pride in one’s ancestry, or admiration of the wonders of African diasporic history. The first step in a holistic approach to systemic change is through intergenerational and culturally relevant education. This play serves as an entry point for people of all ages and backgrounds to learn about anti-Blackness, and other historical and contemporary ism’s.
About the Artist
Sandy Lynne Holman is the founder and director of the Culture C.O.-O.P. For over 35 years, she has focused on the importance of culturally relevant and responsive services and materials while increasing cultural competence in educational and service-oriented settings. In her long career as an equity specialist, educator, counselor, and activist she has consulted with scores of organizations, including the National Center For Learning Disabilities, Understood.org, the Center for The Whole Child, the National Head Start Conference, the United States Navy and the United Way. Sandy has presented to thousands of youth and adults, locally and nationally as an author and advocate for holistic systemic change. She has been recognized with awards including the City Of Davis Lifetime Achievement Award, Ida B. Wells Risk Taker Award, and the Calvin Handy leadership award, among others. Sandy received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Davis and her M.S. in School Counseling with a focus on Education from California State University, Sacramento.
Acknowledgments
We would like to recognize Bike City Theatre Company, Yolo Arts, the City of Davis, the California Arts Council, and Congregation Bet Haverim’s Bieberstein Social Justice Fund for nurturing the genesis our play and giving us a springboard for the Sankofa Experience. We thank the City of Davis’s Civic Arts Commission and their Arts and Cultural Affairs Fund for supporting the continued Development of this important work.
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If you have a project in mind, reach out to us! We are a group of creative and innovative professionals who turn ideas into reality.