Sankofa Fellow Gets the Tools to Lead From History to the Future

Otis Franklin III is maximizing his time this summer. He’s not only serving as an orientation intern in the College of Charleston Department of African American Studies, he also recently completed a two-week intensive fellowship at Charleston’s International African American Museum (IAAM).  

After applying for and being awarded what he initially thought would be a great resume booster, Franklin realized the Sankofa Fellowship would be much more than that. 

“This is something I can do with my time to give back to my community,” says the North Charleston native majoring in African American studies and minoring in computing in the arts and music. He notes that fellowship activities like volunteering at the AMOR Healing Kitchen, a local nonprofit and fellowship partner, reminded him of how connected he is to the area. “I realized this is still my home.”

He was reminded of that again when he and the fellows took a Gullah Geechee tour of the peninsula. On the tour bus, Franklin realized he knew which streets the driver would turn down, and what he would say. It wasn’t until later that his mother reminded him she’d taken him on that tour when he was just 6 years old.

“It was so entrenched in my soul,” he says, “it came back.”

The fellowship, now in its third year, is open to students of any major from around the nation. One of eight students selected for this year’s cohort, Franklin is the only participant from the local area.

“The other fellows looked at me as a guide. They knew I provided an authentic view of Charleston,” says the 1967 Legacy Scholar. “I appreciate the opportunity to represent the College, the African American studies department and Legacy Scholars.” 

History Becomes the Future

By connecting student fellows with culturally rooted community organizations and leaders, the Sankofa Fellowship ensures that the next generation of leaders is equipped to honor the past while creating a more equitable future.

Felice Knight, the IAAM’s director of education and a scholar of the African American experience in Charleston, likes to call programs like this “schools without walls.”

“What’s most important is for students to take the skills they’re learning in college and apply them in real-world, practical ways,” she says.

During the Sankofa Fellowship, that’s done through community service and team-based work.  

“I focus on three key takeaways: cultivating community among the fellows; professional development, especially in the nonprofit sector; and expanding educational horizons, so the fellows can take with them the knowledge they gained here,” Knight says.  

Sankofa, taken from the Akan language of Ghana, means “go back and get it,” a concept Knight says exemplifies the importance of what students learn over the 15-day fellowship.  

“It’s important to have historical context and connect the past with the present,” she says. “That’s when learning sticks and history becomes real.”  

For Franklin, history became real while he was staffing a booth in the Ubuntu Village during the museum’s Juneteenth programming. It was one of the highlights of the fellowship for Franklin, whose plans include nonprofit work, community organizing and social work.

“I want to take my passion for African American culture, especially music,” he says, “and be the light that was shone onto me.”