The Friends of the Akonting Center
At the 8th Annual Banjo Collectors Gathering (12/08-12/11/05), I met with Daniel Jatta, Ulf Jägfors, and scholar/writer/banjoist Professor Tony Thomas (founder/moderator, Black Banjo Then & Now) to discuss ways we could support Daniel's and Ulf's ongoing field work in West Africa documenting and perpetuating the Jola akonting and other West African lute traditions. As a result, we set up an organization called Friends of the Akonting Center (FOAC) to coordinate support work here in North America. Our first task will be to raise funds for The Akonting Center: The Senegambia Center for Folk Music Research and Education (SCFMRE) in Mandinary, Gambia.
What follows is a PDF version of the FOAC Mission Statement. The design work was done by Dr. Joan Dickerson, a leading performer of the classic style 5-string banjo and early jazz style 4-string plectrum banjo. Dr. Dickerson is a pioneer of the recent movement of African American musicians and scholars to reclaim the banjo-- an instrument which originated in the New World African Diaspora with roots in West Africa-- and reintroduce into their community's rich musical culture.
-- Shlomo Pestcoe
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