Charles Ofay and Yolanda Byrd have a one night stand. The town they both go to school in is host to two very different colleges. Ben Tillman University is a mostly white school and their across town neighbor Freedom College is an historically black institution. Their encounter is soon forgotten.

Several months pass and Charlie gets a call from the local hospital informing him of very surprising news. Yolanda had died in an accident not long after child birth and he has a daughter. He is the child's only living relative. Charlie initially runs, but after much soul searching decides to step up and raise his bi-racial daughter.

The mythological sankofa bird of African folklore tells us that you can’t intelligently move into the future if you don’t pay attention to the lessons of the past. Through the education of Charlie and the journey he is undertaking with his aptly named daughter Sankofa, the story explores and examines human nature and issues of race and racism.