I See Hip Hop Afrika

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 physicaleducation class for the general student body. With all my credentials in dance, I felt compelled to visit themotherland to gain firsthand knowledge and education on the subjects of West African dance and culture. Thissabbatical 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 documentarythat included the guided tour of the Slave Mansion on Beer Island, a greeting card collection called theSankofa Collection, which features the twelve sketches and a photo of me jumping into the ocean at BeerIsland, a nonfiction book titled 12 Days in Senegal: An Artists Journey, which is my twelve-day account of thesabbatical, 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 alongwith me through the rich cultural countrysides and cities of Senegal. In this book, I return to my craft as aspoken word artist, poetically capturing the beauty, intrigue, and joy of Africa.