Thursday, Dec. 20, marks the 16th anniversary since Brooklyn warrior Sonny Abubadika Carson joined the ancestral realm. Although he’s physically gone, his powerful Ogun spirit lives on and continues to influence the present generation of urban youths.
“Abubadika devoted most of his time to the life-sustaining task of re-Africanizing Africans in America,” remembered his comrade Tarik Haskins, adding that Sonny loved his community, always advocating education. “In doing that, he also sought to re-establish in Africans the belief in themselves as being intelligent, decisive, courageous, and restore the belief that we are human beings, the most valuable entity on the planet.”
As the chairman of the Black Men’s Movement Against Crack during the late 1980s and early ‘90s, Carson, along with his comrades, advocated Black unity and community control while ensuring that their local communities within The People’s Republic of Brooklyn remained relatively drug-free.
However, as a visionary, he predicted the current economic social climate in the Big Apple.
“Sonny saw this coming 50-something years ago,” said Ali Lamont Jr., chairman of the Committee to Honor Black Heroes, which has renamed several Brooklyn streets after prominent African-American ancestors. “He said this was all planned many years ago.”
Lamont also mentioned Carson’s influence in the hip-hop generation. His son Lumumba performed as Professor X and was a member of revolutionary hip-hop group X Clan. Big Daddy Kane recorded songs with Professor X and visited Carson often. Biggie Smalls grew up just blocks away from Carson’s office at Restoration Plaza and visited him as a youth. Tupac Shakur was Carson’s godson.
“If you only read things written by the mainstream media, they will try to convince you that Sonny Carson was a man consumed by hate,” noted X Clan’s Paradise Gray. “But those of us who actually knew him would tell a story of a man who loved his people. A man who was a Korean War veteran who loved his country but was denied the freedom, justice and equality that he had fought for.”
Malcolm X’s influence on Carson is undeniable, inspiring him to rename a stretch of Reid Avenue in Bed-Stuy after the courageous Black nationalist icon, and driving him to organize his community.
“His work continues on in the organization he helped found, the Dec. 12th Movement,” Tarik added. “Abubadika we love you.”
Even at this present time, Carson’s legacy continues to ring bells and inspire many Brooklynites.
“Abubadika was about his people, he will always be missed,” said Atiim Ferguson, vice chair of the Committee to Honor Black Heroes. “What was very important to him was the youths and his family. The youths today don’t understand that there’s a rich legacy waiting for them to discover, and out of that, just maybe, we’ll find another Sonny Carson.”
Long live the legacy of Sonny Abubadika Carson!