Sharon Thomas Yarbrough, prominent promoter of women, dies at 71
Sharon Thomas Yarbrough at Honolulu Museum of Art in 2023.
JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARADVERTISER.COM
Sharon Thomas Yarbrough, shown at the Honolulu Museum of Art in February, played an integral part in the success of the Honolulu African American Film Festival.
Sharon Thomas Yarbrough — a prominent member of the Black culture and arts community in Hawaii for more than 30 years — died Sept. 23 at Kaiser Hospital in Honolulu. She was 71. Yarbrough was the founder and president of Sisters Empowering Hawaii, an organization dedicated to uplifting, motivating, educating and empowering women. Sisters Empowering Hawaii produced speakers programs, hosted luncheons, and presented book signings, art shows and poetry readings.
She also played an important part in the continuing success of the Honolulu African American Film Festival.
Sandra Simms, a friend for many years who served with Yarbrough on the film festival board, remembered her as “a real force of nature.”
“She loved community, and loved being a part of community and contributing to community. And that was what she did with Sisters Empowering Hawaii, what she did with the (Honolulu) African American Film Festival, and everything else that she was involved in,” Simms said. “She was in it, wholeheartedly, because these are things that she cared about. She worked with the NAACP for years, and after the Martin Luther King holiday bill was signed, she was involved with the first group that set up the Martin Luther King celebrations in January.”
“She had a tremendous ability to bring people together from all walks of life. That was a gift she had.”
“Sharon’s sudden passing leaves a big void,” Andre Wooten said via email. “She was a Class A connector of people and will be greatly missed.”
Yarbrough enriched Hawaii’s cultural diversity as the promoter of Stogie Kenyatta’s one-man, multicharacter show, “The World Is My Home — The Life of Paul Robeson,” at the Doris Duke Theatre in February 2020; with the multiarts celebration of the publication of the “Sisters Across Oceans” poetry anthology December 2022; and with a tour of the Honolulu Museum of Art’s exhibition, “Forward Together: African American Prints from the Jean and Robert Steele Collection,” co-hosted with Jean and Robert Steele, earlier this year.
Yarbrough is survived by her husband, Herman “Tommy” Yarbrough, and by her sister, Nedra Thomas, in Texas.
“Queen Sharon” will be remembered with a celebration of life at 2 p.m. Oct. 13 at Kakaako Waterfront Park. An announcement on social media stated, “This is a celebration gathering. This is not the funeral. Please bring champagne to share, pupus, and a song, words of sisterhood, poem to share. Yellow roses or yellow rose petals will be appreciated.”
