January 23, 1944 – Nov. 28, 2024

Roberta was a fierce, loving, and committed member-leader of SONG. She was deeply involved in The Campaign to End Cash Bail, guerilla theater, and prison letter writing. Residing in Wilmington, she put SONG on the map in eastern North Carolina and built bridges among SONG movement, family, and others committed to the work for liberation.  

As a child of Texas and North Carolina, Roberta was deeply southern, and her hospitality knew no bounds, unless somebody mistook her kindness for weakness one too many times. 

Roberta loved music, earning her Bachelor of Arts from New York University and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Even after her career as a freelance music journalist, writer, and radio host, she continued to travel across North Carolina for concerts and would manage to make a new best friend with whoever she was sitting next to. She had a particular passion for music with deep histories in the South, including jazz, blues, hip hop, and R&B music, and often had the newest Oxford American CD playing in her car.  

Roberta was an organizer through and through, including being involved in the Welfare Rights movement while living in Seattle, WA. In North Carolina, she was part of movement work with and beyond SONG. She was an active member of the New Hanover County NAACP and deeply involved in Moral Mondays with the Poor People’s campaign. She was also a member of the North Carolina Second Chance Alliance and advocated alongside many formerly incarcerated comrades. Roberta reminded us that our work does not stop at the prison walls and she consistently fought for our family inside; one person shared recently of Roberta, “I never had anybody fight for me that hard.”

During her years in Wilmington, Roberta spent time with loved ones and showed up – and stirred up – her community in every way she could. She was chosen family to many, with others lighting up with pride to declare, “Roberta is a good friend of mine.” Having “BEACHDAY” on her license plate, Roberta would host SONG kin for a day at the beach and to talk music, explore movement history, and challenge ourselves around how we will keep up the fight. 

Roberta understood belly laughter, good meals, sweet dogs, and all plants as medicine. She always said what needed to be said and sometimes even more than what folks wanted to hear. She never stopped learning and growing. She was fierce, real as they come, and had a fiery love that emanated from her. We will miss Roberta deeply; her legacy will live on.

Roberta Penn, Presente. 

With Love,

Durham SONG