Sonny

Sonny Gibson with great care, and serious research, has dug deep to tell the history of Americans of African descent in Kansas City.  With great deliberation, he has gathered the stories of many of the early pioneers and later sustainers of black social, economic, cultural and religious life. Through his books, and collections, he invites all audiences into a rich dialogue about the peoples of African descent, most often wordlessly, through photos and printed records of times past. Having himself lived through much of the great change through which Black lives have mattered, he has become a poetic writer and speaker about civil rights in Kansas City. He has worked to enable housing policy and practice for all who are ill housed; lived and studied the life of Charles "Yardbird" Parker; courageously spoke with intellectual confidence and personal pride of the black experience across all ages, classes, and beliefs. His sense of humanism raises up the communities of color while respecting the mores and principles of our mighty nation. For the Kansas City reader of some residency, page after page of his writings spur recognition of family names, artifacts, buildings, places, and things, which creates the ties of respect and pride to the community. His actions are a celebration of the Freedoms he has helped win.