Sasa
Salihah “Sasa” was a sophomore in high school in Silver Spring, Maryland when she wrote I am the Night Sky. She enjoys writing, painting, doing pottery, and talking to people. She likes hunting down stories, asking people about their experiences, and creating art after them: sometimes for healing, sometimes for remembering, sometimes for rebellion.
Sasa is a Black American Muslim Woman – her family has been in American since slave ships and before. On her father’s side she is African-American and American-Indian, and on her mother’s side she is Panamanian and African-American. She is a third-generation Muslim, Writer, and Artist.
"I wrote this series of poems and vignettes because I wanted to share my story. Not for proof or justification or validation, just because that’s what stories are for — sharing. I’ve never been rich in anything but stories, and if one of them happens to change someone’s ideas, open their heart, give them joy, or show them that they can do what I do and better, then Alhamdulillah. Maybe they’ll end up rich like I am."