The Return of The Sankofa Bird Saturday 4th July Transition Town Tooting
Please see this invitation from Transition Town Tooting (TTT) to their event on 4th July.
” On Saturday July 4th Transition Town Tooting (TTT) invite you to join a safely distanced but socially connected celebration of Tooting community resilience, kindness and inventiveness: on and offline over the length of one summer’s day.
The occasion gives time and space to mark our community’s survival, solidarity and connections in difficult times whilst also celebrating the 10th anniversary of the grand 2010 Tooting Trashcatchers’ Carnival – a large scale celebratory event reimagining Tooting.
“Invisible threads are the strongest ties.”
We wish to make visible the invisible threads that sustain us as neighbours, friends, families and community groups. How can we do that during a global health pandemic when we cannot gather together we hear you ask?
With the help of the West African mythical Sankofa Bird.
The Sankofa Bird looks forward and backward in a single glance. Carrying an egg in its mouth – the seed for new stories – it says ‘it’s never too late to go back and fetch what you forgot from the past – skills, stories, knowledge. The Sankofa Bird was the central character in the 2010 Carnival – visiting Tooting to gather stories and seeds for the future. On July 4th The Sankofa Bird returns to Tooting and would like to know how people have been getting on in these strange COVID times: what has kept us going? what or who do we miss? what do we hope for in the future? The Bird’s visit gives us a chance to reflect, individually and collectively on how we might ‘build back better’.
The day runs as follows:
4.51am Sankofa dawn arrival in Tooting (you can stay in bed!)
Greetings from and between Tooting community and Sankofa arrival: we set the scene and prepare for the day and engaging with the Bird and its questions.
Visit the bird and answers its questions, safely, at one of these places, or online using the #sankofareturn:
10.30 – 11.30am: Sankofa goes walkabout in and around Tooting – follow social media #sankofareturn for whereabouts
1-2pm: Tooting Community Garden, 5 North Drive, SW17
3-4pm: Tooting Bec Common, between area outside Tooting Bec Lido entrance and Lake
Attendees at open air sites are asked to wear masks and maintain social distancing 2 metre measures to ensure public health safety for all. Public safety measures will be strictly adhered to during The Return of The Sankofa Bird.
2-3pm: An online invitation to those shielding:
For people who are shielding and unable to attend any open air visits, there will be an online event, hosted by TTT member Resina Chowdhury, to celebrate the creativity and achievements of those who have been shielding. We would like to hear your responses to the Sankofa bird’s questions below. And we would love you to share your poems, artwork, stories and other creative endeavours that have been keeping you sane during this solitary period!
An invitation to children:
Children – please contribute too, through sending pictures of what kind of world would you like to see coming out of lockdown. You can send them to us via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using #sankofareturn
Many good things have been growing up amongst the Tooting community in the last 10 years to be celebrated. The Return of the Sankofa Bird creates the opportunity to hear these stories told.
We look forward to welcoming you on July 4th to this special physically distanced and socially connected community day.
Let’s share how we have been doing and celebrate how we connect today and in the future.
With good wishes
Your friends at TTT
Jeni, Hilary, Resina, Barbara, Dipa, Garry, Lucy and Richard
