Happy 90th Birthday to Sister Sonia Sanchez — By Dr. Ron Daniels

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Comments and Commentary by Dr. Ron Daniels

Back in the day in Youngstown, Ohio, as a young aspiring Black Power, Black Nationalist, Pan Africanist, Internationalist organizer, advocate and leader, I was inspired by the rallies, forums and demonstrations listening to the incredible, uplifting, inspirational, powerful poetry of the likes of the then Don L. Lee, later to become Haki R. Madhubuti and a young, diminutive, firebrand-spitting, harsh, exhorting, exhilarating, resistance and transformation-insisting, Black and human liberation poet and warrior woman named Sonia Sanchez, universally affectionately known as Sister Sonia.

Along my journey for justice, I was blessed to come to know and labor for Black liberation with Haki R. Madhubuti and Sonia Sanchez who were joined at the hip as “movement” brother and sister who became familial brother and sister in the most meaningful sense of the word.

September 9, 2024, in Harlem, the Capital of Black America and world-renowned center for resistance and renaissance, at the historic Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Global Black Village gathered in-person and virtually to celebrate the life and legacy of Sister Sonia on the occasion of her 90th Birthday. As usual, her soul brother Haki along with his wife and partner Safisha Madhubuti were in the center, the heart of an amazing celebration where they presented the audience with two of Sister Sonia’s early works, compliments of The Third World Press Foundation. And, of course Haki delivered a moving poem that encapsulated the life, contributions and legacy of his soul sister Sonia.

It was a beautiful, awe-inspiring experience with Mayor Ras. J. Baraka, the  son of the master poet, playwright and political activist Amiri Baraka, Kevin Powell, Marc Lamont Hill, Abiodun Oyewole of the Last Poets, the iconic Sweet Honey and the Rock and several poets, artists and performers that we unknown to me,  many of whom were the progeny, the fruit inspired by this powerful Black woman, showed up to express gratitude to this larger than life petite warrior woman who had inspired and changed their lives!

The audience was filled friends and admirers, Black, Brown, Yellow, Red and White who flocked to the Schomberg to pay homage to this towering, diminutive woman … Susan Taylor, Howard Dodson, James Early, Andy Shallal, Paul Coates, Ms. Beverly Lomax, Dr. Brenda Greene … to mention a few, all gathered to celebrate Sister Sonia’s 90th Birthday.

The highly anticipated climatic moment of the evening came when our beloved Sister Sonia took to the stage, stood straight and firmly grasp the microphone on the podium and lifted her unshakable voice to offer heartfelt thanks for one of the most moving moments in her life. Reaching deep into the depths of her heart and soul, she issued an urgent plea to all of us and the peoples of America and the world to stand-up as human beings, to unite to save Mother Earth from the anti-human, death-dealing destruction of malevolent, deranged forces who are ravishing the planet for profit.

Expressing her gratitude time and time again in a manner that moved us all, on her 90th Birthday, our beloved Sister Sonia pleaded and demanded that we stand-up, stand-tall as human beings in unshakeable unity to save Mother Earth and usher in an eternal Age of Aquarius with peace and justice for all! It was an absolutely phenomenal evening, celebrating a phenomenal African/Black human being, our dearly beloved Sister Sonia Sanchez. A luta continua. #HappyBirthdaySisterSonia

Featured image: Screenshot: 2003 Sonia Sanchez interview with The HistoryMakers.