A Letter for Sonia Sanchez

“‘A Letter for Sonia Sanchez’ is a collection of books built from a list of 50 literary works from Black Americans, dating from 1773 to 1965. The work builds from Sanchez’s emotional story of frustration and discovery while examining the access to these authors and books, then and now. The books in ‘A Letter for Sonia Sanchez’ must be checked out from the local libraries while still providing the original list to the audience. The work uses the available library books and ratchet ties to create a monument of literature that is bound by the yellow industrial straps. The use of the ratchet ties as a book strap or belt references the other work in the ‘Look Away’ series as part of the removal of monuments and the yellow as a cautious warning.

For much of the country’s life, it has taught a version of history that excluded Black Americans. In the mid-1960s, the most popular textbook for 8th-grade U.S. history classes only mentioned two Black Americans in the century since the Civil War. The suppression of black history and art is intertwined with the repression of Black rights and equality. ‘A Letter for Sonia Sanchez’ is an examination of the suppression and distortion of Black history, culture, and education while providing light to the depth and diversity of American literature.”

— Chris Revelle