Sanchez talks heritage at SU

Wednesday night, poet, author and activist Sonia Sanchez was the fourth speaker in the Chancellor’s Lecture Series. Held in the Cotillion Ballroom of the Smith-Brown Memorial Ballroom, Sanchez spoke to students understanding the im-portance of attending HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and the legacies of being black.
“Anytime you are feeling down, and thinking you ain’t making it, you should stop, and know that you are making. You are doing what our ancestors called out for us to do, and that is get an education and take control of your lives,” said Sanchez. “No other people could have gone through slavery and still survived. Look at us now.”
Sanchez went on to tell a story of when she was a guest on the “Tavis Smiley Show,” she was asked what was the biggest accomplishment of the 20th century. While everyone else on the panel said the atomic bomb or winning World Wars I and II, Sanchez said, “blacks surviving.”
“At the beginning of the 20th century, everybody wrote that we would not survive. They said we weren’t smart or had any abilities; that we could not build or contribute. And now look at us: everywhere you turn, here we are.”
Tiffany Pelton, a senior English major from Atlanta, said Sonia’s lecture has so far been the most enjoyable of the lecture series.
“I thought the artistic expression fit the program,” said Pelton, who was refereeing to the SU Jazzy Jags band who played music by famed jazz musician John Coltrane. “Sonia Sanchez was very eloquent with her speech. To read poetry is one thing, but to have the poet read their work in the way it should sound gives it a whole new meaning.”
Born Wilsonia Benita Driver in 1934, Sanchez and her family moved to Harlem as a child and graduated from Hunter College in 1955 with a degree in political science.
In 1965, Sanchez moved to San Francisco where she helped develop black studies courses at San Francisco State University.
“I have homework for you,” Sanchez started, “For one week, I want you to curl your tongue to negative words. I promise you, you’ll have peace in your body, your dorms. Are we not we not brothers and sisters? You tell me you’re Christian? You tell me you believe in Jesus Christ? You tell me that so much when I talk about gays you say ‘ooohhhh’ because I know you don’t destroy people with your tongue…we’ve moved to a point where we focus more on what someone else is wearing.”
As an author of poetry, plays and children’s books, Sanchez has won the National Education Association Award, P.E.N. Writing Award, the National Academy and Arts Award, among others.
Touching on other contemporary issues, Sanchez addressed the media attention surrounding the assault charges for recording artists Chris Brown and Rihanna.
“The Mayans said when you raise your fist at someone, you have lost all reason. And you have young girls saying she [Rihanna] probably talked back to him [Brown] and that’s why he hit her. When did talking back get you a hit in the nose and in the mouth? What you’re saying is no one can talk back or scream.”
Sanchez went on to read a poem titled “She, He” that addressed domestic violence. After Sanchez’s lecture, she read “A Poem about Peace,” “Morning Song and Evening Walk,” “Poem for Some Women” and discussed the meanings behind them.
While Sanchez signed books, Chancellor Kofi Lomotey said he was proud of the turnout and the poet’s performance.
“It was very provocative, informative, scholarly and entertaining. I’m glad we—students, faculty, staff and community—have the opportunity to learn beyond the classroom.”
Lomotey announced April’s speaker will be Na’im Akbar, a psychologist from Florida State whose studies focus on social concerns facing the black community.
He is the author of “Breaking the Chains of Psychological Slavery” and “Visions for Black Men.”
To listen to Sonia Sanchez’s lecture in its entirely, visit the Southern DIGEST’s Web site: www.southerndigest.com