Sonia Sanchez, Philadelphia’s poet laureate, began her speech at Thursday’s Chat In the Stacks: “When Sonia Speaks,” by ensuring her attendees were not choosing to abstain from voting in the upcoming election.
“Please don’t tell me you’re not voting,” Sanchez said.
The revered poet, who recently celebrated her 90th birthday, spoke with seasoned authority as she leaned into the microphone. Sanchez’s brows furrowed in earnest, but a smile appeared through the curve of her cheeks behind her mask. Her overall presence, both in her manner and her work, embodies this striking juxtaposition — unbridled joy paired with stark, unflinching truth.
Sanchez, a former Temple English and women’s studies professor, was invited by the Faculty of Color committee and Temple Libraries to host a reading and conversation in Charles Library on Sept. 26. The event brought together students, children, Philadelphia poets, faculty and alumni for an uplifting evening of poetic reflection.
Sanchez retired from Temple in 1999 as Professor Emeritus. She has written more than 20 books of poetry, several short stories, plays and critical essays, some of which are still incorporated into Temple’s curriculum today.
Her impact on the university continues to resonate with students. Abigail Corcelli, a senior English major, expressed a sense of awe and humility in attending the same institution that played a significant role in Sanchez’s career.
“It’s really cool to know that we have this place in common,” Corcelli said. “And that a place that has been so influential in my personal and educational journey might have also influenced the work of such an important artist.”
Sanchez is widely recognized as a cornerstone of the Black Arts Movement and for her critical role in introducing Black Studies curriculum to predominantly white institutions through her work at San Francisco State University. She is a recipient of the Robert Frost Medal for distinguished lifetime service to American poetry and the Langston Hughes Poetry Award.
Kimmika Wiliams-Witherspoon, senior associate dean of performing arts, emceed the evening. She shared her experience as Sanchez’s teaching assistant during her time at Temple and Sanchez’s efforts to promote free access to the arts for her students.
“She would have the greats, Gwendolyn Brooks, Tony Cade Bambara,” Williams-Witherspoon said. “It was all of the black writers that we knew of. She would have them here at Temple for free, for the community in Sullivan Hall. She was giving to the community while at the same time, providing this rich creative writing education for our students.”
Sanchez prefaced the reading portion of the evening with an introduction that emphasized two main themes: privilege and education. The poet reflected about the humility required for learning.
“When you write a word on the blackboard and ask a student to think about it, while you also think about it, neither one of you can be called dumb,” Sanchez said. “Education is key, and people died so you could get to a place like Temple.”
Local poet and retired Temple administrator Debra Powell-Wright opened the reading with a recitation of “Healing,” one of her original poems inspired by an encounter with Sanchez at her mural dedication in 2001.
“The story is that my mom had passed, and I hadn’t wanted to go to her dedication, but I went and Sonia said something that hit me like a healing bomb,” Powell-Wright said. “She said, ‘Poetry will wait for you.’ That’s how [my poem] came to be almost fully complete. So it is somewhat of a mantra and affirmation for myself to remind myself and others who hear it hopefully that, you know, this thing called poetry, there’s value to it.”
The reading included two of Sanchez’ poems, “14 haiku” and the longer piece “Belly, Buttocks and Straight Spines.” After “14 haiku,” Sanchez, ever the teacher, advised the audience.
“Don’t clap,” Sanchez said. “Know why? Let the words resound in your ears, so you can tell me, tell yourself what they really mean.”
Throughout the conversation portion, Sanchez’s cadence filled the room like poetry itself. Her conversation maintained a rhythmic quality, weaving together stories and her truisms, while she interjected her conversation’s refrains: “Remember people died,” and “Education is key.”
“You cannot come into this universe and take and give nothing back,” Sanchez said in a callback to her prior notion about the responsibility of informed voting.
When asked by an audience member what she was most proud of, Sanchez didn’t hesitate.
“Students,” she said.
Sanchez’s body of work and ongoing presence at Temple embodies the true meaning of generational impact. After seventy years of oration, she still went 30 minutes past her allotted time — because she’s not one to run out of things to stay.
“The energy in the room was contagious and it felt like such a privilege to share the space with everyone there today,” Corcelli said. “It’s experiences like these that feel so unique to Temple and make me so glad I chose to come here.”
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