N’nako Kandé is a descendant of Sumanguru Kanté, the 13th‑century ruler of the Sosso Empire in West Africa, and the niece of Mory Kanté, the world‑renowned griot and kora player whose hit “Yéké Yéké” became the first African single to achieve worldwide chart success.

 

She is the daughter of Yomba and Rosalie Kandé, respected pillars of agriculture and education in Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire.

 

An award‑winning author of The Art of Rooting™, America 250 National Civic Poet, and founder of Silent Hour™, she is a multi‑year nominee for the Black Excellence of Chattanooga Awards. 

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“The Land Remembers,” the national civic poem commissioned by the City of Chattanooga for America 250, has been installed as Stop 14 on the Renaissance Park Civic Poetry Pathway. Its QR‑code access stands just feet from the iconic sculpture “The Travelers,” honoring the history of the Trail of Tears. The film The Land Remembers brings the poem to the screen, returning to the very National Historic Trail of Tears at Audubon Acres — the sacred site where the poem was first written during one of Kandé’s Silent Hour™ practices in early 2026. This Cherokee homeland is the birthplace of Silent Hour™ — where Kandé, “the forester’s daughter,” shaped her poetic micro‑lessons on heritage, land memory, and preservation.

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