Sonia Sanchez (The Sixties in America)
Early Life
Born Wilsonia Benita Driver in Birmingham, Alabama, she lost her mother, Lena Jones
Driver, at age one and was raised by her grandmother and later her father. In 1943, she and her
sister moved to Harlem, New York, to live with her father, Wilson L. Driver, a musician. Through
him, she was exposed to jazz artists such as Billy Holiday, Art Tatum, and Count Basie, whose
music influenced her poetic style. She studied poetry and political science at Hunter College,
where she received her bachelor’s degree in 1955. She continued studying poetry under
professor [The entire page is 835 words long]
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