Sekou Sundiata, at 58; poet whose 'Blue Oneness of Dreams' won Grammy nomination
NEW YORK -- Sekou Sundiata, a Grammy-nominated poet whose work blurred the lines between music, theater, and literature, has died at the age of 58.
The New York professor died Wednesday, said family spokeswoman April Silver. His family declined to publicly release information on the cause of death, she said.
Mr. Sundiata performed his work on HBO's Def Poetry Jam and in a national tour with singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco, who says on her website that the writer "taught me everything I know about poetry." His first recording, "The Blue Oneness of Dreams," earned a Grammy nomination.
More recently, Mr. Sundiata had performed his work around the country, touring the one-man theatrical piece "blessing the boats," which detailed his battle with kidney failure.
"The 51st [dream] State," which explored the state of America after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, was performed at Brooklyn Academy of Music in November.
"I thought maybe the 51st state is a dream state," he told The
On "longstoryshort," released on DiFranco's Righteous Babe Records label, he warned listeners: "People be droppin' revolution like it was a pick-up line. You wouldnt use that word if you knew what it meant."
Mr. Sundiata, a professor at The New School university, was born in Harlem as Robert Feaster. He changed his name in the late 1960s. His work has also appeared on the Bill Moyers PBS series "The Language of Life." 