Service Learning Project: Sankofa Personal Narrative Digital Storytelling Initiative

Participants will engage in comprehensive training on Sankofa principles—the African concept of learning from the past to move forward—while developing their skills as community storytellers and digital media creators by documenting and sharing their own lived experiences as Minneapolis residents.

Participants will use personal photography, video production, and podcasting to create authentic multimedia narratives that connect their individual stories to the broader historical and cultural fabric of North Minneapolis, exploring themes of family migration, neighborhood changes, cultural traditions, and individual/community resilience. Through Generative AIs learning, guided reflection and storytelling workshops, they will learn to weave their personal experiences with intergenerational wisdom, interviewing their current situations to understand how their own stories connect SankofaPOWER.

Each participant will create a personal digital story portfolio that includes photo essays documenting their daily life and neighborhood, video testimonials sharing their perspectives on community challenges and assets, and podcast episodes featuring conversations with family members about their journeys to Minneapolis and dreams for the future. These personal narratives MAY be integrated into the broader Sankofa Map platform (pending on each participants’ own decision), creating a comprehensive digital archive that connects to the NorthStar Urban Farm & Food Digital Platform’s community directory and cultural preservation efforts, ultimately building a community-controlled database of resident voices that centers lived experience, and empowers members to see themselves as the authors of their community’s ongoing story.