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Books by Sonia Sanchez
Shake Loose My Skin: New and Selected Poems
(1999) /
Like the Singing Coming Off the Drums:
Love Poems (1998)
Does Your House Have Lions?
(1995) /
Wounded in the House of a
Friend (1995) /
Under a Soprano Sky
(1987) /
Homegirls
& Handgrenades (1984)
I've Been
a Woman: New and Selected Poems (1978)
/
A Blues Book for
Black Magical Women (1973) /
We
a BaddDDD People (1970)
Homecoming
(1969) /
A Sound Investment and Other
Stories (1979) /
The Adventure of Fat Head, Small
Head,
and Square Head (1973)
It's a New Day: Poems for
Young Brothas and Sistuhs (1971) /
We Be Word Sorcerers:
Twenty-five Stories by Black Americans (1973)
Living
At The Epicenter (Morse Poetry Prize) (1995)
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Sonia Sanchez and Ten Grandmothers
Acquitted of 'Defiant Trespassing'
By Jamie Walker
Philadelphia, PA—Sonia Sanchez, 71,
and ten other grandmothers, who are part of an
organization called The Granny Peace Brigade (GBP), were
recently acquitted in a Philadelphia Community Courtroom
on charges of 'defiant trespassing' in front of an Army
Recruitment Center earlier this year.
The grandmothers—all of whom are against the war in
Iraq—staged a peaceful protest outside a U.S. Armed
Forces Center in downtown Philadelphia on June 28, 2006.
While protesting, the women "sang peace songs, spoke out
against the war, and displayed colorful banners."
They also chanted, "Take us, not Philadelphia's children
and grandchildren. Let them live their lives."
As a result, all of the women were arrested and
detained. Their trial, which was set for December 1,
2006, lasted only fifteen minutes long, and drew
thousands of supporters from around the world. The
charges against them were dropped because they were
protesting in a public building and exercising their
right to free speech.
"What are we grandmothers going to have to do, for God's
sake, to try and wake up America?" asks Joane Wile,
Founder and Director of Grandmothers Against the War and
a member of the GBP.
"The anti-war movement must get ever more creative and
determined," says Wile. "New methods of protest must be
developed. Larger numbers of people must be engaged. New
leaders must emerge."
Wile believes that perhaps, most importantly, "the youth
must be aroused to leave their insulated comfort zones
(their video games, their rock concerts) and come out
and speak against the Bush atrocities."
The Granny Peace Brigade was actually born on October
17, 2005, when 18 women, ages 59 to 91, many of them
grandmothers, tried to enlist in the United States
military. They asked to enlist in order to replace their
grandchildren who they believed were being "deployed in
Iraq unnecessarily."
As one "Peace Granny" asserted, "We wanted our young
people to come home while they were still alive and
whole, to have the same opportunity for enjoying a long
life as we have had."
The grannies, however, we were denied access, arrested,
and jailed. After a six-day trial, they were acquitted
of all charges, "which was an affirmation of the
legality of non-violent protest."
Sonia Sanchez, herself a peace activist, notable poet,
and proud grandmother, heard about the GPB and decided
to join the Philadelphia chapter.
"All we are simply saying is let us begin this
discussion of peace," Sanchez said in her interview with
Professor Kim Pearson before her trial. "Let us begin
to invigorate this earth with peace. Let us begin again
the whole idea of people being able to live on this
earth in a peaceful fashion. Let us begin again the
beginning work that must be done that says, simply, that
peace is necessary."
Peace is necessary for the survival of this planet. As
water is to life, human beings need peace in order to
ensure the righteous development of our young people.
The earth needs peaceful warriors with the spirit of
Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Fanny Lou Hamer in
order to ensure that generations after us will not
buckle when their basic human rights have been taken
away.
Future generations need to be inspired to know peace,
breathe peace, speak peace, and be the peace that they
want to see in the world. They must know that their
grandmothers, grandfathers, mothers, sisters, fathers,
and brothers are inspiring them to take up the torch and
follow their precious lead.
"These grandmothers are actively looking at ways to move
towards peace for future generations," says Kadija Sesay,
a literary activist who was present at the trial. "It's
wonderful that our elders should do that, and it was
great to see that a lot of the younger generations were
there to support them."
The grannies have been traveling to various places in
the United States, promoting peace and garnering support
for their efforts through their website:
grannypeacebrigade.org.
They are willing to put their lives on the line in a
quest to save human lives.
Presently, they are calling upon all grandmothers to
join them on January 18, 2007 in Washington, DC, as they
meet with senators in hopes that the new 110th Congress
will "honor the mandate of the electorate, act with
integrity, and restore the basic tenets of our
Constitution."
*
* * * *
Jamie Walker is a freelance journalist who recently
completed a new book on Sonia Sanchez called Sonia On
My Mind. She can be reached through her website:
www.jamiewalker.org
posted 3 December 2006 |
