America ReFramed

BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez

By Barbara Attie, Janet Goldwater and Sabrina Schmidt Gordon

For 81-year-old Sonia Sanchez, the personal is political.

BaddDDD SONIA SANCHEZ is a portrait of the artist, revealing Sanchez’s uncompromising life. Deemed "a lion in literature's forest" by poet Maya Angelou, Sanchez is a winner of major literary honors, including the American Book Award in 1985 and the Harper Lee Award in 2004, among others. A significant figure in the 1960s Black Arts Movement, often considered the artistic arm of the Black Power Movement, she raised her voice in the name of black culture, civil rights, women's liberation, and world peace.

The documentary features readings and jazz-accompanied performances of her work, including special appearances by Questlove, Talib Kweli, Ursula Rucker, Amiri Baraka, Haki Madhubuti, Jessica Care Moore, Ruby Dee, Yasiin Bey, Ayana Mathis, Imani Uzuri and Bryonn Bain, placing her squarely between the civil rights movement and the hip-hop/spoken word generation. The film captures the artist’s steadfast commitment to the need for cultural specificity while connecting history and the humanities to a mainstream audience.