Ramona [“Sapphire”] Lofton (1950- )

April 15, 2013 
/ Contributed By: Michelle Dartis

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Sapphire

Courtesy kutibeng (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Ramona Lofton, better known as Sapphire, is a self-admitted bisexual, novelist, poet, and performance artist. She gained prominence for her 1996 debut novel, Push, and other works that focus on the alarming realities of inner city life.

Lofton was born on August 4, 1950 in Fort Ord, California, the second oldest of four children born to military parents. Her father was an army sergeant and her mother was a soldier in the Women’s Army Corps. Throughout her childhood, her family maintained a middle-class faรงade while hiding incest and alcoholism.

When Lofton was thirteen, her father retired from the Army and moved the family to Los Angeles. Her mother, who was battling alcoholism, did not join them and instead abandoned the family. Years later they reconnected, but her mother succumbed to alcoholism in 1986.ย  That same year Loftonโ€™s homeless brother was murdered in a Los Angeles park. Their deaths later played pivotal roles in Lofton’s emerging writing career.

Lofton dropped out of high school and moved to San Francisco in the early 1970s, briefly studying chemistry and dance at the City College of San Francisco, before adopting what she described as a hippie lifestyle.ย  She moved to New York City in 1977, where she supported herself by working as a housekeeper and as a topless dancer.

Lofton returned to school at the City College of New York, majored in modern dance and graduated with honors in 1993; she obtained a master degree in fine arts in 1995 from Brooklyn College.

In the 1980s, Lofton adopted the stage name Sapphire and immersed herself in the Slam Poetry movement emerging in New York City.ย  She also became a member of the United Lesbians of Color for Change, Inc., a nonprofit organization in New York.

Sapphire’s writing career began with her self-published collection of poems, Meditations on the Rainbow in 1987, followed by American Dreams, a compilation of poetry and prose in 1994.ย  The second volume garnered the attention by the literary public and earned her a MacArthur Scholarship in Poetry and Downtown Magazine’s Year of the Poet III Award. Loftonโ€™s works explored sexual identity, police brutality, and her relationship with her alcoholic mother and abusive father.

Lofton’s most successful novel, Push, the harrowing story of a young, illiterate girl named Precious Jones who endures emotional, physical, and sexual abuse by her parents, but later finds refuge in a sincere teacher, was released in 1996.ย  Thirteen years later, in 2009, Push became a widely acclaimed film directed by Lee Daniels. In 2011 Lofton published The Kid, the long awaited sequel to Push, which followed the story of Precious’s son, Abdul.

Ramona Lofton currently resides in New York City.

About the Author

Author Profile

A native of Indianapolis, Indiana, Michelle Dartis is a self-published author, adjunct faculty member, freelance writer, and works as a therapist and as a behavior consultant. She holds a bachelorโ€™s degree in social work and three distinct graduate degrees in library science, higher education with a specialization in leadership for student success, and human and social services. Recently, she earned a Ph. D. degree in Human and Social Services.

Michelle is the recipient of various awards, including theย Indiana Librarians Leading in Diversity MLS Fellowship Projectย and the American Library Association/Spectrum Institute REACH 21 Scholarship Initiative.ย  She has over thirty-five years of professional experience in mental health, behavior management, therapy, developmental disabilities, sexual assault counseling, case management, and teaching.

Michelleโ€™s debut novel, โ€œThis Ainโ€™t That: An Erotic Novelโ€ was published in September 2021 on Amazon.com and became a first-time childrenโ€™s book author in December 2023 by publishing โ€œTrinityโ€™s Earthly Arrival from Heaven.โ€ This book is available on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com. Her forthcoming second childrenโ€™s book, โ€œI Wish I Was White: Racial Identity and Self-Esteem.โ€ This book is based on a real event that took place a few years ago when Michelleโ€™s granddaughter Trinity said one day to her unexpectedly, โ€œI wish I was White.โ€ Trinityโ€™s statement had such a profound impact on her, that it led her to write a book based on her comment. The book is about strengthening racial identity and uplifting self-esteem in todayโ€™s youth (no matter what they find โ€œwrongโ€ with them), especially Black girls.

CITE THIS ENTRY IN APA FORMAT:

Dartis, M. (2013, April 15). Ramona [“Sapphire”] Lofton (1950- ). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/lofton-ramona-sapphire-1950/

Source of the Author's Information:

Claude J. Summers and Sapphire, eds., An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture (Chicago: GLBTQ, Inc., 2011), Retrieved from ww.glbtq.com/social-sciences/lofton_l.html; Marq Wilson, A Push out of Chaos: An Interview with Sapphire (Storrs, Connecticut: Melus, 2012); Elizabeth McNeil, Un-“Freak”ing Black Female Selfhood: Grotesque-Erotic Agency and Ecofeminist Unity in Sapphire’s Push (Storrs, Connecticut: Melus, 2012).

Further Reading