JINAKIPronounced: GEE-nah-key
I AM! I am Aina Jinaki. My name "Jinaki" is Swahili and means "Proud" or "Proud One". The meaning translates directly to the work that I put into SISTRUM!
I am PROUD! I am me! I am we!!
My parents Khaleed and Makeda raised a confident, determined woman. A woman who has focus and stability in TRUTH. I've worked, struggled and walked towards the road of TRUTH for many years and finally discovered "JINAKI".
I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago. I graduated from Tennessee State University in 2003 with a B.S. in Psychology. I began studying the techniques of shekere in 2005 with Mama Jendayi (Spiritual Journey Percussion Ensemble) in the Shekere Works in Progress group. Check out pics from my shekere rights of passage ceremony in 2006!
Playing the shekere has always been a passion of mine. Seeing the mamas perform at culture events and Kwanzaa gatherings touched my soul. It began as a youth in church slamming the woodened, cymballed ring into the palm of my left hand. When the musicians began soloing I felt obligated to join in as to pay homage to the Creator. I would pick up the tambourine, close my eyes and let the spirits move my hands. The cosmic transcendence that takes place when playing the tambourine and shekere is impetuous. Those emotions quickly connected to designing my own shekeres.
My first attempt at making a shekere I produced two shekeres in the amount of time that it took to make one. The process from gourd to shekere is the energy that connects me to music; transcendant. Each shekere and earwear is blessed and named as individual entities. They are ~SISTRUM~
