Nikki Giovanni :Nikki Giovanni Black American, daughter, mother, Professor of English, Activist, and “Princess of Black Poetry”


Background :Background Bibliography Family Education Accomplishments Poetry Making a difference Epitaph


Biography :Biography NIKKI GIOVANNI was born Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, Jr., June 7, 1943, daughter of Yolande Cornelia, Sr. and Jones “Gus” Giovanni. She is named after her mother, but for unknown reasons, sometime during the first three years, her sister, Gary, began calling her Nikki. She was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and grew up in Lincoln Heights, an all-black suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. Both her sister, Gary, and she spent their summers in Tennessee, where she graduated with honors from Fisk University, her grandfather's alma mater.


Education :Education Early education – Wyoming, Ohio- both her parents as well as her grandfather were educators. After completing high school, she enrolled as an early entrant to Fisk University in Tennessee. However, she is not prepared for the conservatism of the small black college and “butts head” with the Dean of Women.


Education :Education She is eventually expelled from Fisk University and moves back to Ohio, where she works at Walgreen’s, helps raise her nephew and earns a B.A. degree in History (with honors) She eventually re-enrolls at Fisk (after a change in Deans), and graduates with honors.


Biography :Biography After receiving her bachelor of arts degree in 1967, she organized the Black Arts Festival in Cincinnati before entering graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University.


Biography :Biography She published her first book of poetry, Black Feeling Black Talk, in 1968, and within the next year published a second book, thus launching her career as a writer. Early in her career she was dubbed the "Princess of Black Poetry," and over the course of more than three decades of publishing and lecturing she has come to be called both a "National Treasure" and, most recently, one of Oprah Winfrey's twenty-five "Living Legends."


Giovanni’s Poetry :Giovanni’s Poetry In her first two collections, Black Feeling, Black Talk (1968) and Black Judgement(1969), Giovanni reflects on the African-American identity. Recently, she has published Acolytes (HarperCollins, 2007), The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni: 1968-1998 (2003), Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea: Poems and Not-Quite Poems (2002) Blues For All the Changes: New Poems(1999), Love Poems (1997), and Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni(1996).


Accomplishments :Accomplishments Giovanni has been named an Outstanding Woman of Tennessee and has received Governor's Awards from both Tennessee and Virginia. She was the first recipient of the Rosa L. Parks Woman of Courage Award, and she has also been awarded the Langston Hughes Medal for poetry. She is an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and has received Life Membership and Scroll from The National Council of Negro Women


Accomplishments :Accomplishments She has received the keys to more than two dozen cities. A scientist, Robert Baker, who admires her work even named a new species of bat he discovered, Micronycteris giovanniae, in her honor.  She is currently Professor of English and Gloria D. Smith Professor of Black Studies at Virginia Tech, where she has taught since 1987.


Reflections on Giovanni’s accomplishments :Reflections on Giovanni’s accomplishments Often known to be controversial, she is well remembered for her militancy during the turbulent sixties, becoming quite popular as one of the New Black Poets of the era.  In the sixties, Giovanni’s writing reflected more on personal relationships. However, during the eighties, her focus took on a more global tone - displaying a great concern for humanity. Giovanni recorded her album, Truth is on its Way, in 1972, which launched her career as a national speaker and reader of her own poetry.


Slide 12:On February 27, 2005, Giovanni joined five regional gospel choirs at James Madison University for a concert commemorating the 35th anniversary of Truth Is On Its Way.  She accompanied the choirs and performed her own readings. Continued…


Tragedy :Tragedy Nikki - Lung Cancer diagnosis -1995 Tupac Shakur – September 13, 1996 (murdered) Mother died – January 24, 2005 (lung cancer) Sister died – August 10, 2005 (lung cancer) Rosa Parks died – October 25, 2005 Virginia Tech Tragedy – April 17, 2007 These were very important people/events in Nikki’s life.


Nikki Giovanni :Nikki Giovanni Nikki Giovanni’s reply to one of Amazon.com's Significant Seven questions: If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? She replied “I tried.” To the question “What was the worst lie you ever told? “You’re the best.”


Making a difference- Bringing poetry to children together :Making a difference- Bringing poetry to children together Spin a Soft Black Song (1971) Ego-Tripping and Other Poems For Young People(1973) Vacation Time: Poems For Children (1980) Knoxville, Tennessee (1994) The Genie in The Jar (1996) The Sun Is So Quiet (1996) The Girls in the Circle (Just for You!) (2004) Rosa (2005)


Bibliography :Bibliography http://aalbc.com/authors/nikki.htm, accessed October 10, 2008 http://nikki-giovanni.com/bio.shtml Accessed October 14, 2008 http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/173 Accessed October 26, 2008 http://nikki-giovanni.com/timeline.shtml Accessed October 26, 2008