I met Trinidad in 1986 after I published my first book "Second Generation". He invited me to Detroit to do a poetry reading in 1989 and I had a wonderful time. I invited him to read in Milwaukee at the Wisconsin Conference on the Hispanic Family. He was a Jesuit brother when I first met him and he later married and moved to Denver and then San Antonio... He always tried to stay in touch and when I was organizing my manuscript on poemhunter.com last January, he emailed me to say he had read them and saw that I was improving as a writer. I did not respond right away and when I checked my email, I had updated him on my situation in June of 2006.
Trinidad Sanchez, Jr.
Trinidad Sanchez native of Pontiac, Michigan was ninth of ten children born to poet Trinidad V. Sánchez and Sofia Sánchez.
His poetry bestseller, Why Am I So Brown, (MARCH ABRAZO PRESS) is in its sixth printing!
In 1995, Trinidad was the winner of the Albuquerque Poetry Slam Competition and went on to the National Poetry Slam the same year. His anti-gun, anti-crime poem "Let Us Stop the Madness" was selected as one of the winning poems of the People's Choice Competition.
Sanchez has also been featured at the Austin International Poetry Festival, Austin, Texas; Houston Poetry Festival, Beyond Baroque Literary Center, Venice, Calif.; The First Nezahualcoyotl Poetry Festival at The Mexican Fine Arts Center, Chicago; The Detroit Institute of Arts Line Series, Detroit. and many other venues in the past decade.
He has also performed and lectured at various colleges including Wayne State University, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Cal Poly Tech and Bowling Green University. Trinidad has been recognized for his activism on behalf on prison inmates and his involvement in social issues with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "Keep the Dream Alive" Award .
He was in the Artist in Education Program for the San Antonio School District, part of the ArtsReach Program of the San Antonio Department of Art and Culture and the Texas Literary Touring Program of the Austin Writer's League. He currently resides in San Antonio. For books or presentations: Trinidad Sanchez, Jr. send an e-mail to: trinidadjr43@hotmail.com
Trini wrote one of the last memorable signature poems. And that an achivement in itself. Not many poets have a signature poem. Even Ricardo Sanchez fought at length to get a signature poem like "I Am Joaquin" or "Stupid America.' Below I'm posting Trini's most famous poem, though it looks like he had made some revisions:
WHY AM I SO BROWN?
A question Chicanitas sometimes ask
while others wonder: Why is the sky blue
or the grass so green?
Why am I so brown?
God made you brown, mi'ja
color bronce--color of your raza, your people
connecting you to your raices, your roots
your story/historia
as you begin moving towards your future.
God made you brown, mija
color bronce, beautiful/strong,
reminding you of the goodness
de tu mama, de tus abuelas, your grandmothers
y tus antepasados, your ancestors.
God made you brown, mi'ja
to wear as a crown for you are royalty--a princess,
la raza nueva, the people of the sun.
It is the color of Chicana women--
leaders/madres of Chicano warriors
luchando por la paz y la dignidad
de la justicia de la nación, Aztlan!
God wants to understand . . . brown
is not a color . . . it is: a state of being
a very human texture
alive and full of song, celebrating--
dancing to the new world
which is for everyone . . .
Finally mi'ja
God made you brown because
it is one of HER favorite celebrations
The wake
The mass was well-attended. There were lots of old warriors there. It was good to see so many viejos del movimiento: Saúl Sánchez, Juanita Luna Lawhn, Carmen Tafolla, Jesse Herrera, David Rice, Javier Garza, Juan Tejeda, Nephtalí de León and his compañera Josie, Joe Gallo, in no particular order nor inclusive. If I missed someone, I apologize. Es la vejez.
The Irish priest gave a meaningful homily. As he addressed Trini's picture and ashes, he lipped "Who we are," which was to become the leitmotif of his sermon. "What does a poet do? What did Trini do? Trini reminded us WHO WE ARE, which is what all poets do," he repeated throughout the sermon. It was very well done, very effective and appropriate.
After the rosary and mass, many attendees moved across town to a small art gallery where food, drink, music, and general merriment and remembrance took place.
The whole event was very comforting. I just hope the monetary contributions gathered at the celebration of life help Regina liquidate what must be enormous medical bills.
Anyone wishing to help may send them to:
Mrs. Trinidad Sánchez, Jr.
2803 Fredericksburg Rd. #1215
San Antonio, TX 78201
to help with medical expenses.
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