We invite you to spend some time with Sonia Sanchez, the award-winning poet whom Maya Angelou called, "a lion in literature's forest." Find poems, upcoming events, and a warm note of welcome from the poet at her new website. You can read about Sanchez's recent appearance at the 10th annual National Black Writers' Conference over at Essence.com.

In tribute to Dr. Dorothy Irene Height, Essence.com has a beautiful feature here, including this testament by Sanchez:

"She was an amazing woman to travel with, so full of information that you just sat next to her and opened up your pores to receive the wisdom. What I think is important for people to understand about Dr. Height is that she was an intellectual, along with being a woman who got things done. She worked very hard and organized but she did it with intellect. Imagine the meeting between God and Dr. Height when she says all the things that she did on this earth."

Selected from the poem 9 haiku

(for Freedom's Sisters)

(Dr. Dorothy Irene Height)

    I
your words
helped us reconnoiter
the wonder of women

    II
woman sequestered
in the hurricane
of herstory...

Sanchez, Sonia. "9 haiku (for Freedom's Sisters)." Morning Haiku. Boston: Beacon Press, 2010. Please do not distribute this work without permission. You may submit requests to reprint the work of Sonia Sanchez from titles published by Beacon Press through its website.