Art and Activism Fall Event: Featuring Sonia Sanchez and Aya de Leon

The Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA) at

Stanford University will host critically-acclaimed poets, activists, and educators, Sonia Sanchez and Aya De Leon. These women creatively use spoken word to reflect on issues facing communities of color. Through their work they question the status quo and highlight the individual's role in bringing about social change. We hope that community members of the Bay Area will leave this event with a heightened awareness of issues facing the

Black community, a fresh way of thinking about activism, and new ideas about using art to create a voice for themselves and their communities. Further, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, we believe it important to address art and its potential to be a motivating force for mobilizing

change in poor communities and in communities of color, while equipping future generations with the tools to affect change.