Reference
- Nikki Giovanni (1943–)One of America's foremost contemporary poets, Nikki Giovanni has been creating original and compelling poetry for nearly half a century. Her first collection, Black Feeling Black Talk (1968), grew out of her response to the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and Robert Kennedy as well as her perceived urgency to raise awareness about the plight and rights of black Americans. Subsequent collections have maintained Giovanni's focus on racial and gender inequality and the conflicts inherent in the American experience.
Giovanni was born Yolande Cornelia Giovanni Jr. in Knoxville, Tennessee, but was largely raised in a predominantly black suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. She attributed her appreciation for African American culture and heritage from her grandmother, whose vernacular speech and storytelling would become an important legacy for Giovanni's career as a poet. Giovanni graduated from Nashville's Fisk University and did graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia.
Giovanni achieved her initial fame as one of the leading authors of the Black Arts Movement, whose strong and often militant African American perspective caused her to be dubbed the “poet of the Black Power Revolution.” Her first three collections, Black Talk (1968), Black Judgement (1968), and Re: Creation (1970), reflect themes of black power and consciousness. Later collections reflect her experiences as a single mother, and Spin a Soft Black Song (1971), Ego-Tripping (1973), and Vacation Time (1980) are collections of poems for children. Those Who Ride the Night Winds (1983) show her returning to political concerns, celebrating black American heroes and heroines. Later collections include Blues: For All the Changes (1999), Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea (2002), Bicycles: Love Poems (2009), and Chasing Utopia: A Hybrid (2013).
Gemini: An Extended Autobiographical Statement on My First Twenty-Five Years of Being a Black Poet (1971), nominated for the National Book Award, provides Giovanni's assessment of her life and career. Other nonfiction works include Racism 101 (1994), dealing with the civil rights movement and its aftermath.
Named by Oprah Winfrey one of her “25 Living Legends,” Giovanni has written, “Writing is … what I do to justify the air I breathe. I have been considered a writer who writes from rage and it confuses me. What else do writers write from? A poem has to say something. It has to make some sort of sense; be lyrical; to the point; and still able to be read by whatever reader is kind enough to pick up the book.”
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
Credo Reference is an easy-to-use tool for starting research. Gather background information on your topic from hundreds of full-text encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, quotations, and subject-specific titles, as well as 500,000+ images and audio files and over 1,000 videos.
Perspectives
The 100 Best African American Poems
Hear voices contemporary and classic as selected by New York Times bestselling author Nikki Giovanni Award-winning poet and writer Nikki Giovanni takes on the impossible task of selecting the 100 best African American works from classic and contemporary poets. Out of necessity, Giovanni admits she cheats a little, selecting a larger, less round number. The result is this startlingly vibrant collection that spans from historic to modern, from structured to freeform, and reflects the rich roots and visionary future of African American verse. These magnetic poems are an exciting mix of most-loved classics and daring new writing. From Gwendolyn Brooks and Langston Hughes to Tupac Shakur, Natasha Trethewey, and many others, the voice of a culture comes through in this collection, one that is as talented, diverse, and varied as its people. African American poems are like all other poems: beautiful, loving, provocative, thoughtful, and all those other adjectives I can think of. Poems know no boundaries. They, like all Earth citizens, were born in some country, grew up on some culture, then in their blooming became citizens of the Universe. Poems fly from heart to heart, head to head, to whisper a dream, to share a condolence, to congratulate, and to vow forever. The poems are true. They are translated and they are celebrated. They are sung, they are recited, they are delightful. They are neglected. They are forgotten. They are put away. Even in their fallow periods they sprout images. And fight to be revived. And spring back to life with a bit of sunshine and caring. -Nikki Giovanni
Racism 101
In Racism 101, Nikki Giovanni indicts higher education for the inequities it perpetuates, contemplates the legacy of the 1960s, provides a survival guide for black students on predominantly white campuses (complete with razor-sharp comebacks to the dumb questions constantly asked of black students), and excoriates Spike Lee while offering her own ideas for a film about Malcolm X. And that is just for starters. She also writes about W.E.B. Du Bois, gardening, Toni Morrison, Star Trek, affirmative action, space exploration, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the role of griots, and the rape and neglect of urban schools. But to reduce Nikki Giovanni's essays to their subjects is to miss altogether their significance. As Virginia C. Fowler writes in her Foreword, These pieces are artistic expressions of a particular way of looking at the world, featuring a performing voice capable of dizzying displays of virtuosity. Profoundly personal and blisteringly political, angry and funny, lyrical and blunt, Racism 101 will add an important chapter to the debate on American national values.
A Good Cry
One of America's most celebrated poets looks inward in this powerful collection, a rumination on her life and the people who have shaped her. The poetry of Nikki Giovanni has spurred movements, turned hearts and informed generations. She's been hailed as a firebrand, a radical, a healer, and a sage; a wise and courageous voice who has spoken out on the sensitive issues, including race and gender, that touch our national consciousness. As energetic and relevant as ever, Nikki now offers us an intimate, affecting, and illuminating look at her personal history and the mysteries of her own heart. In A Good Cry, she takes us into her confidence, describing the joy and peril of aging and recalling the violence that permeated her parents' marriage and her early life. She pays homage to the people who have given her life meaning and joy: her grandparents, who took her in and saved her life; the poets and thinkers who have influenced her; and the students who have surrounded her. Nikki also celebrates her good friend, Maya Angelou, and the many years of friendship, poetry, and kitchen-table laughter they shared before Angelou's death in 2014.
Ego-Tripping and Other Poems for Young People
Insightful and fun, this collection of poetry captures the essence of the African American experience for young people.
Healing Power of Love Poems
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new window
Giovanni emphasizes the importance of focusing on love and taking care of one's self during a time of grief. After losing her parents, she wrote a book of poetry about being in love.
Empowering Girls and Embracing Passion
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowGiovanni describes her grandparents and how they inspired her to pursue her passions. She hopes to empower girls to have self-confidence with her poem "Ego-Tripping." Giovanni believes in following her passion to counter the injustices of racism, poverty, and sexism.
Expressing Grief Through Poetry
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowNikki Giovanni describes how poetry can be healing during experiences of loss; poetry connects people by helping them express and share their emotions. The bicycle centers in her new work as a metaphor for trust and balance in relationships throughout life.
Online Resources
- Interview: Nikki Giovanni On Race, Age & SexThe author discusses an interview with Nikki Giovanni, an African American poet, during which the conversation drifted to various topics.
- AN INTERVIEW WITH NIKKI GIOVANNIAn interview with African American poet Nikki Giovanni is presented. She discusses the state of poetry publishing, her opinions of other African American authors, and the state of Black feminism.
- Nikki Giovanni’s Appalachian TiesWhile African-American and feminist historians have made significant corrections to the traditional white, male version of southern history, few would venture to assert-as Nikki Giovanni repeatedly does in her lectures-that southern culture, at least in terms of these values, is black. Among the more frustrating and infuriating aspects of American racism is not simply the denial of the horrors of slavery and, in modern times, of racism, but also the erasure of its products; the reality consistently erased is that America, and especially the South, was built from the sweat, the toil, the skills, and the intelligence of black people
- A Visit with Nikki Giovanni.The article offers information on renowned poet Nikki Giovanni. Topics dicussed include views of Giovanni on various topics like imagination and impact of inagination on creative literary works, mentorship in education, authority of educators in classroom, role of poetry in shaping life of students and need for universities to cultivate skills like generosity and civility in students.
Change and Race in America
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowGiovanni reflects on the inspirations of the young, the context of her early work, and societal changes. Huey Newton's political action and Martin Luther King Jr.'s global scope of impact, culminating in Obama's election, convey change in American society.