In 2016, the Oak Bluffs Public Library celebrated the first week of August with an African American Literature and Culture Festival in honor of the Oak Bluffs Power of Place permanent exhibit in the The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. The next year, the library received a sizable donation of African American research resources from a local scholar, which soon became part of our African American collection.

Now an annual tradition, the celebration – now called the Sankofa* Festival – is an important part of the library’s commitment to the diversity and inclusion which helped Oak Bluffs stand out as a historic place of belonging for African Americans. The Oak Bluffs Public Library hosts speakers, writers, scholars, artists and performers during the first weekend in August each year to shine a light on the significant Black literature and culture, which are interwoven into the tapestry of Oak Bluffs history.

*The Sankofa bird is a symbol of the Akan people of West Africa. The bird, which looks back on itself, means “it is not taboo to go back and reclaim what you left behind”. Because of its significance as an African symbol which teaches that we must go back to our past to move forward, was suggested that the library use the Sankofa bird to designate its African American collection. It was such a fitting concept, that the library renamed its annual festival to the Sankofa Festival in late 2018.