red river sankofa project

What is Sankofa?

A symbol of understanding the past to plan for the future (literal meaning: go back to fetch it)

Sankofa is part of traditional Akan wisdom and represents a cultural link between the living and the dead, the past and present and the present linked to the future. A bird looking backward so that its beak points to his tail represents Sankofa.

Why Donate?

What's New?

Help Me Find My Ancestors

Workshop on African-American Family Research

Calendar of Events

About the project

The Red River Sankofa Project seeks to research, document and preserve underreported African American burial grounds in NW Louisiana and NE Texas. The area of focus, a rather remote, but bountiful region along the upper Red River of Louisiana and along the Texas Louisiana border provides a plethora of forgotten, historical content regarding the contributions of African Americans who originally settled the area. We are also extremely interested in genealogical ties to this place and have been collecting and publishing data some find useful for family research. If you would like to contribute something to this evolving narrative, no matter the significance, please feel free to send to info@redriversankofa.org. We are always interested in family stories, family history, reunion notices, pictures, cemetery information and any other record that indicates any relevancy to the project.

Gravemarkers in need of attention at Old Ebenezer Baptist Church and St. Paul CME Church both located in Belcher, Louisiana.