Reader:  Dana Stephens

"Song No. 3"

Sonia Sanchez

Unsettling America, p. 111

Biographical Information:

On September 9, 1934 there was the birth of a black female author born.  Her birth name was Wilsonia Bonita Driver.  Later, she married Albert Sanchez.  She had three children.  She became Sonia Sanchez a poet, play writer, and educator. Noted mainly for, her black political activism in the 1960’s.  After receiving her B.A. in 1955 from Hunter University (now Hunter College of the City University of New York), Sonia became a member of the Nation of Islam.  This is a powerful Black Muslim organization in which Malcolm X was a leader, who influenced Sonia to fight.

Objectives:

Objective 1d. “The color Code” Literature represents the extremely sensitive subject of skin color infrequently or indirectly. 

Objective 3a African American alternative narrative: “The Dream”

Objective 5a.To discover the power of poetry and fiction to help “others” hear the minority voice and vicariously share the minority experience.

Question:

Does the “American Dream“ continue to hunt the little black girl?

Little girl do you know who you are?

Interpretation:

First (4 lines): The narrator is positive about her appearance. She knows that she is what she is and it cannot be changed.  For example, "but i see how you stare when nobody's watching you" because of our appearance we get stared at if we do not meet that “American Dream class, "and my clothes have holes that run right through to you."

Second (4 lines): The narrator mentions all the things that “The American Dream” has considered to be a representation of "ugliness" for the African American minority.  For example, I agree with Tamrynn Huckabay Fett, when she listed the universally “ugly”

Third (4 lines): She is aware that she is alone in the world therefore; if she falls there will not be a worthy person to catch her.  She does not feel worthy enough to be saved because; she does not trust the outside world.

Fourth (4 lines): The narrator confirms that she does not need to be told who she is, but she hopes to “One Day.” She knows the prejudice that exists, but she does have hopes that it will change.  There will be recognition of the little black girl’s image in the mirror. 

Links:

http://www.americansc.org.uk/samuel.htm

http://voices.cla.umn.edu/authors/SoniaSanchez.html

http://authors.aalbc.com/sonia.htm

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/moveable_feast_a_sonia_sanchez/about.php

Works Cited

Gillan, Maria, & Jennifer. Eds. Unsettling America: An Anthology of Contemporary Multicultural Poetry. New York: Penguin, 1994