Sonia Sanchez facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sonia Sanchez
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Sanchez in 1998
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| Born | Wilsonia Benita Driver September 9, 1934 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. |
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| Education | Hunter College New York University |
| Notable awards | Robert Frost Medal (2001) Wallace Stevens Award (2018) |
| Spouse | Etheridge Knight, div. |
| Children | 3 |
Sonia Sanchez (born Wilsonia Benita Driver; September 9, 1934) is an American poet, writer, and teacher. She was a very important person in the Black Arts Movement. This movement was a time when Black artists created powerful works to celebrate Black culture and identity.
Sonia Sanchez has written many books of poetry, short stories, plays, and even children's books. In the 1960s, she started sharing her poems in magazines for African-American readers. Her first poetry book, Homecoming, came out in 1969. She has won many awards, including the Robert Frost Medal in 2001, for her amazing poetry. Sonia Sanchez has inspired many other Black poets.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Sonia Sanchez was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 9, 1934. Her mother passed away when Sonia was only one year old. Because of this, Sonia lived with different relatives for a few years.
When she was six, her grandmother, who she lived with, also passed away. This was a very difficult time for Sonia. She developed a stutter, which made her shy. However, her stutter also made her read a lot and pay close attention to how words sound.
In 1943, Sonia moved to Harlem in New York City. She lived with her father, who was a school teacher, her sister, and her stepmother. In Harlem, she learned to control her stutter. She did very well in school and found her voice as a poet.
She studied at Hunter College and earned a degree in political science in 1955. Sonia always read her poems aloud because she cared a lot about their sound. People praised her for using the rich sounds of African and African-American speech in her poetry. She even calls herself an "ordained stutterer" now.
Sonia Sanchez continued her studies at New York University (NYU). While there, she started a writing group in Greenwich Village. This group became known as the "Broadside Quartet." It included other important Black Arts Movement artists like Nikki Giovanni.
Sonia Sanchez kept her professional name after her first marriage. She has three children and three grandchildren.
Teaching Career
Sonia Sanchez taught 5th grade in New York City until 1967. She has been a professor at eight universities and has given talks at over 500 colleges across the United States.
She was a leader in creating Black Studies programs at universities. In 1966, while teaching at San Francisco State University, she started Black Studies courses. She was the first to create and teach a course about Black women and literature in the U.S. Her course on African-American literature was also one of the first of its kind at a mostly white university.
Sonia Sanchez believed that Black Studies was a new way to learn about race. It also challenged unfair ideas in American universities. These efforts were part of the goals of the Black Arts Movement. She was also known as a Black feminist. In 1977, Sanchez became the first Presidential Fellow at Temple University. She taught there until she retired in 1999. She still works as a poet-in-residence at Temple University. She has read her poetry in many countries around the world.
Activism and Influence
Sonia Sanchez was a very important part of the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Arts Movement. In the early 1960s, she joined CORE (Congress for Racial Equality), where she met Malcolm X.
At first, she believed in integration, meaning people of all races living together. But after hearing Malcolm X speak, she became more focused on Black heritage and identity.
In 1972, Sanchez joined the Nation of Islam. During this time, she published A Blues Book for Blue Black Magical Women (1974). However, she left the group after three years because their ideas about women's rights were different from hers. She continues to speak up for the rights of women and minority groups.
She wrote many plays and books about the lives and struggles of Black Americans. Some of her plays include Sister Son/ji (1972) and Malcolm Man/Don't Live Here No Mo’ (1979).
Sanchez has also edited two collections of Black literature. She is involved in many activist causes, working for peace and justice.
The Black Arts Movement
The Black Arts Movement aimed to renew Black strength, understanding, energy, and awareness. In the 1960s, Sanchez published poems and essays in many magazines. Her writing showed her importance as a thinker in the "black aesthetic" program.
Sanchez became a key voice in the Black Arts Movement after her poetry book Homecoming came out in 1969. This book and her next one, We a BaddDDD People (1970), showed how she used new poetic styles to talk about Black nationalism and identity.
Writing Style and Themes
Sonia Sanchez is known for mixing musical styles, like the blues, with traditional poetry forms, like haiku (a short Japanese poem). She also uses unique spellings to celebrate the sound of Black English. She credits poets like Langston Hughes for inspiring this.
Her first poetry book, Homecoming (1969), uses blues music influences in its style and message. The book talks about the challenge of defining Black identity in the U.S. It also celebrates many things Sanchez loves about Black culture. Her second book, We a BaddDDD People (1970), focuses on the daily lives of Black men and women. These poems use city Black language, unusual punctuation, spelling, and spacing. They also have the lively feel of jazz music.
Later in her career, Sanchez's works, like I've Been a Woman (1978) and Homegirls and Handgrenades (1985), focused less on ideas of separation. Instead, they explored themes of love, community, and empowerment. She continued to use haiku and blues-inspired rhythms. Her later works include Does Your House Have Lions? (1997), which is a powerful story about her brother's struggle with AIDS, and Morning Haiku (2010).
Besides poetry, Sanchez also wrote plays and prose for the Black Arts Movement. She started writing plays in the 1960s. Many of her plays feature strong female characters. Sonia Sanchez is recognized as a pioneer for Black feminism.
Recent Works and Recognition
Sonia Sanchez's voice can be heard in a spoken-word part of the song "Hope is an Open Window" by Diana Ross (1998). This song was used in a tribute video for 9/11. Sanchez is also one of 20 African-American women featured in "Freedom's Sisters," a traveling exhibit.
In 2012, Sonia Sanchez became Philadelphia's first Poet Laureate, a special poet chosen by the city. She held this position until 2014.
In 2013, she was the main reader at the 17th annual Poetry Ink event, where she read her poem "Under a Soprano Sky."
A documentary film called BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez was released in 2015. This film highlights Sanchez's work, career, influence, and life story.
Awards and Honors
Sonia Sanchez has received many awards for her contributions to literature and activism:
- P.E.N. Writing Award (1969)
- National Education Association Award (1977–1988)
- National Academy and Arts Award (1978–79)
- National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Award (1978–79)
- American Book Award for Homegirls and Handgrenades (1985)
- Community Service Award from the National Black Caucus of State Legislators
- Lucretia Mott Award
- Governor's Award for Excellence in the Humanities
- Peace and Freedom Award from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
- Langston Hughes Poetry Award (1999)
- Robert Frost Medal (2001)
- Harper Lee Award (2004)
- National Visionary Leadership Award (2006)
- Robert Creeley Award (2009)
- Honored at the 16th Annual Dr. Betty Shabazz Awards (2017)
- Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets (2018)
- Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cleveland Foundation (2019)
- The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize (2021)
- Edward MacDowell Medal by The MacDowell Colony (2022)
Discography
- A Sun Lady for All Seasons Reads Her Poetry (Folkways Records, 1971)
- Every Tone a Testimony (Smithsonian Folkways, 2001)
See also
