Sojourner Kincaid Rolle, former Santa Barbara poet laureate, artist, activist, and environmental educator, died from cancer Sunday night.
Rolle was placed in hospice at Serenity House in late October, and a GoFundMe fundraiser — which is still accepting donations — was set up at the time to support her and her family, particularly her husband Rod Rolle.
Rolle was born in North Carolina and recently celebrated her 80th birthday in August. She lived in Santa Barbara for nearly 40 years, during which time she became a key community figure.
From 2015 to 2017, Rolle served as Santa Barbara’s poet laureate, and was later named the 2021 Congressional woman of the year by Congressman Salud Carbajal.
“She was such a masterful writer as our poet laureate, as a person that just saw beauty in even things that you look at, she would find beauty,” Jordan Killebrew said of Rolle.
Friends of Rolle have said she was an important part of several community efforts.
“She was integral in the Eastside Library becoming a branch. She was integral in the African American Resource Center — now the Franklin Community Center,” Killebrew said. “She would find a need and where things needed to be done and would make it happen. I am so grateful to have had her in the community.”
Killebrew added that Rolle greatly inspired other poets, artists, and even himself.
Over the years, Rolle worked as a lawyer, playwright, educator, and author, and has worked at UC Santa Barbara, the County of Santa Barbara, and several other community-centered organizations.
Rolle published a children’s book, “Free at Last: A Juneteenth Poem” in 2022, which has received national recognition from the School Library Journal, PBS, Publisher’s Weekly, and more.
Information on services or memorials for Rolle was pending Monday night.