Sonia sanchez

Black Arts poet Sonia Sanchez discusses the ancestral influences on her work and how art can give us strength.

“Negro is an interesting word. This country couldn’t call us Africans, because if it had, we would have understood some things about ourselves. We would not have been this “Negro America”, constantly enslaved even after slavery. It would have given us a sense of continuity. So, they had to say 'colored' and 'Negro' and 'nigger' to keep us in our place- to remind us that we were only from this country.” ~Sonia Sanchez

The poet, educator and activist will receive a cash award of about $250,000. The prize is for an artist who “has pushed the boundaries of an art form” and “contributed to social change.”

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Sonia Sanchez

-- Sonia Sanchez

This gallery contains three video segments of poet Sonia Sanchez recorded for Eyes on the Prize, describing the way in which Malcolm X inspired her work.

got to see dr. sonia sanchez at a poetry reading and this was one of my favorites of hers

:: 𝒃𝒚 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒂 𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒛 •

Hero...Poet...Mother...Icon Dr. Sonia Sanchez

Poet Sonia Sanchez~

"I think that the reason why art stays alive is that the artist grows. I mean the body doesn't stay the same; the brain doesn't stay the same. Your art can't stay the same." -- Sonia Sanchez

From Maya Angelou to Nayyirah Waheed, these poets transform us with their power.

Sonia Sanchez: I cannot tell the truth about anything unless I confess being a student, growing and learning something new every day. The more I learn, the clearer my view of the world becomes. - Sonia Sanchez Favorite Sonia Sanchez (2010). “I’m Black When I’m Singing, I’m Blue When I Ain’t and Other Plays”, p.17, Duke University Press #truth #learning #sanchez

Sonia Sanchez (born Wilsonia Benita Driver), American poet. Most often associated with the Black Arts Movement, she was the 1st to create and teach a course based on Black Women and literature in the United States. She has authored over a dozen books of poetry, as well as plays and children's books. She has taught as a professor at 8 universities and has lectured at over 500 college campuses across the US. She was a recipient of 1993 Pew Fellowships in the Arts.

noshoesrequired: “ Poem No. 3 by Sonia Sanchez (shAke loose my skin) ”

In 1988, a group of writers gathered on the steps of Spelman College’s Rockefeller Fine Arts building to fete Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole, who, that weekend, had become the college’s first Black woman president. We had just gotten out of a wonderful program honoring Dr. Cole and Black women in the arts. People were talking, laughing, and greeting each other . . . Everybody was high off the charge of the whole gathering: This was the culmination of a decades-long discussion of who should lead this…

#xoKxo ~Kisxbliss