Sonia Sanchez Sonia Sanchez is a poet who specializes in giving focus to the black identity in works that combine socio-political elements with more maternal and matriarchal tones to effect a unique voice of blackness in America. Born in Alabama but raised in New York, Sonia incorporated the sounds and linguistic expressions of urban blacks in Harlem into her poetry. As an adult, she introduced Black Studies at her college where she was teaching. She was a follower of Malcolm X and a member of the Nation of Islam for a few years in the 1970s. However, her views on women’s rights conflicted with those of the Nation of Islam, so they parted ways (Daniel, 2002).

Sanchez viewed the socio-political struggle of blacks as integral to their stories, and she represented a type of militant blackness at times while also retaining her core maternal feelings and expressions. Her first book of poetry was Homecoming published in 1969. This was followed We a BaddDDD People (1970) and Liberation Poem (1970), both of which emphasized the right of black people to gather and form as their own society. As a follower of Malcolm X she had embraced the idea of separation from white culture...

In 1973, she published Love Poems and A Blues Book for Blue Black Magical Women in which she attempted to reproduce the sounds and rhythms of jazz. She continued to write throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Her 1995 book of poetry Does your house have lions? was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Throughout her life, Sonia Sanchez has been an activist and performer, often reading her poetry throughout the world in order to spread belief in the black identity and black unity. She has promoted women’s rights and women’s equality and received the Peace and Freedom Award from Women International League for Peace and Freedom. Additionally, she has lectured on hundreds of campuses in the U.S. over the course of her career (Daniel, 2002).

One of her poetic forms is the Haiku—a three lined poetic form that allows for quick penetration and study of a subject in a matter of seven beats. In her Haiku poem [question from a young sister] she…