The life and legacy of urban warrior Sonny Abubadika Carson will be commemorated this Sunday in the People’s Republic of Brooklyn in acknowledgement of the 82nd anniversary of his physical birth. Although he joined the ancestors Dec. 20, 2002, his powerful influence is still felt today.
“I miss the brother on his birthday,” reflected Carson’s comrade, Brother Atiim Ferguson. “I still feel that when we walk this Earth, those of us he left behind, he still walks with us.”
Born May 20, 1936, and highly influential during his teens and twenties, Carson’s contributions surpassed his revolutionary Black Power generation of the turbulent 1960s. His son Lumumba took the baton and projected positive images and delivered powerful messages throughout his hip-hop career in which he was known as Professor X with the progressive group X Clan. He also had a relationship with Tupac Shakur, acknowledging him as his godson.
“Abubadika’s example is still relevant because Black people are still in the same genocidal predicament we were in when he passed,” noted Brother Tarik Haskins, also a close friend of Carson.
Black unity and community control were a couple of Carson’s primary objectives. It is well-known in the ‘hood that his Black Men’s Movement Against Crack stabilized communities in Bed-Stuy and Brownsville during the torrent crack epidemic of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.
“Sonny, Malcolm X, Dr. King and the Father Allah, all worked for the betterment of the people,” noted Brother Ali Lamont Jr., chairman of the Committee to Honor Black Heroes. “Bottom line, it was about Black folks and how we advanced our cause. Even though they had different directions, Sonny supported all of them. It was the negroes he had a difference with.”
Many historians contend that Carson’s life can be utilized as a valuable lesson, noting how he went from being a gang member as a teen to being a conscious African community leader.
“The main thing that A.B. did on his trip to the Motherland was that he changed the ‘door of no return’, to the ‘door of the returned,’” said Ferguson. “That means that those souls that left there, who knew they would never come back and are ancestors now, could walk through that. Also, for those of us who are here, the door is open for us to come back and make the Motherland strong again and the world power she’s supposed to be!”
The memorial will be held in the dayroom at 305 Decatur St., Brooklyn, Sunday, May 20.