Santa Barbara Poet Sojourner Kincaid Rolle Passes

Santa Barbara’s best-known poet, Sojourner Kincaid Rolle died from cancer this past weekend at Serenity House, where she had moved for her final days.

Rolle, 80, was born in North Carolina, lived in Oakland, and moved to Santa Barbara 38 years ago, where she has infused the local arts scene — not to mention Santa Barbara’s political landscape — with a unique combination of grace, ballast, moral witness, stamina, dignity, and joy. Rolle remained active and engaged almost to the very end, showing up to speak on writers’ panels while her children’s book, Free at Last: A Juneteenth Poem won national acclaim from the School Library Journal as one of 15 books published that young people should read on the subject of slavery. Rolle wrote the poem back in 2004 but teamed up with nationally acclaimed illustrator Alex Bostic to create the book, which was published this year. 

During her time in Santa Barbara, Rolle functioned as poet, historian, social justice advocate, and educator. From 2015-2017, she served as the official Poet Laureate for the City of Santa Barbara. In a 2011 interview with writer and poet Maya Angelou — most famous for “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” — Rolle recounted her first day as artist-in-residence at Santa Barbara Junior High School. As Rolle recounted her feelings about Angelou’s book in the school gym, a bird flew into the room and soared about looking for a means of escape. The next day, one of the students in attendance showed up with a poem she had written to mark the moment, titled “Caged Man.” Of that experience, Rolle would write, “From that magical day forward, I believed that my work with young people in nurturing their self-expression through poetry was affirmed.”