Sekou Sundiata (August 22, 1948 – July 18, 2007) was an African-American poet and performer, as well as a teacher at The New School in New York City.
Sekou Sundiata was born Robert Franklin Feaster in Harlem, New York, but changed his name in the late 1960s to honor his African heritage.
[1] Sundiata based his one-man show Blessing the Boats on experiences of heroin addiction (back in the 60s), a car crash and a kidney transplant from a friend.
[5] His last work, the 51st (dream) state, featured music, dance, video and poetry about the responses to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
He wrote "Screenwriter's Blues", which was a minor hit for his band Soul Coughing in the 1990s, while studying in Sundiata's class.
[6] Another musician/poet who studied with Sundiata (at Eugene Lang College at The New School for Liberal Arts) was Spin Doctors' lead singer Chris Barron.