Safiya henderson holmes poems small

It was while working recently on a documentary about the history of 555 Edgecombe and 409 Edgecombe, two sites in Harlem where a number of iconic African-Americans live and have lived, that I was reminded of the poet Safiya Henderson-Holmes, who once resided at 409. I recalled, too, how brave and resolute she was in her final days battling a cancer that ravaged her body but without curtailing her creative force to document it in several of her poems.

Many aspects of her short but brilliant life can be distilled from her poetry as well as from numerous books, brochures and memories from her friends and associates, particularly the coterie of writers in an extensive literary circle that often closed warmly around her.

Sharon “Safiya” E. Henderson was born Dec. 30, 1950, in the Bronx, where she grew up. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University and her Master of Fine Arts with a concentration in creative writing from City College in the 1980s. These academic pursuits meshed with her work as a physical therapist at Harlem Hospital and with her practice of providing natural birthing for expectant mothers.

From 1982 to 1992, she was the recipient of several prestigious awards, including two Goodman City College Awards and a MacDowell Fellowship. In 1990, He

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