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 physical education class for the general student body. With all my credentials in dance, I felt compelled to visit the motherland to gain firsthand knowledge and education on the subjects of West African dance and culture. This sabbatical journey was a long-awaited dream.

The twelve-day sabbatical included Senegal's 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 documentary that included the guided tour of the Slave Mansion on Beer Island, a greeting card collection called the Sankofa Collection, which features the twelve sketches and a photo of me jumping into the ocean at Beer Island, a nonfiction book titled 12 Days in Senegal: An Artist's Journey, which is my twelve-day account of the sabbatical, 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 along with me through the rich cultural countrysides and cities of Senegal. In this book, I return to my craft as a spoken word artist, poetically capturing the beauty, intrigue, and joy of Africa.