African American Poet Sonia Sanchez - Essay Example

In her sixties, Sanchez, together with her colleagues, actively participated in the black studies movement after black studies were banned at San Francisco State College. She served as the head of the Afro-American Studies Program at Amherst College. Sanchez did not ever try to be just an essayist or a dramatist or a poet. She has served as an excellent teacher in addition to these.

She made several trips to China, Cuba, and Scandinavia. Sanchez is known for a dazzling performative manner. Instead of reading her works like a slow-paced British professor, Sanchez would inculcate the African and African American cadence into the performance. In 1984, her volume, homegirls & hand grenades emerged (Gates, 2004). One year later, Sanchez’s literary skills were appreciated with the American Book Award. She has written 16 books in her lifetime (soniasanchez.net, n.d.). The topics of Sanchez’s poems originated in societal worries and her articulate manner made them a fundamental source of instigation and tenderization of the Black Arts movement. Read More