“Raised in Harlem by an apolitical mother, I rarely thought about politics outside of the headlines. But in the years before rap groups like Public Enemy and X-Klan talked about nationalism and the Black Panthers, it was Sylvia who introduced me to the writings of John Reed and Frantz Fanon. She took me to my first (and only) public demonstration where in 1982 we protested against South African apartheid in front of the United Nations.” - in Oldster Magazine, Michael A. Gonzales pays tribute to a surrogate older sister.