Nikki Giovanni
From Metapedia
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni (born June 7, 1943) is a Grammy-nominated American Negro poet, left-wing activist, and author. Giovanni is currently a Distinguished Professor of English at Virginia Tech.[1] She is notorious for her racist poetry calling for the killing of European Americans.
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[edit] Biography
Nikki Giovanni was born June 7, 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee to Yolande Cornelia, Sr. and Jones "Gus" Giovanni. Her father's lineage is obscure, but Giovanni believes that he is "descended from slaves owned by an Italian slaveowner."[2] She grew up in Lincoln Heights, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, and, in 1960, began her studies at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, her grandfather's alma mater. She graduated in 1967 with honors, receiving a B.A. in history. Afterwards, she attended both the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. In 1969 Giovanni began teaching at Livingston College of Rutgers University.
Giovanni gave birth to Thomas Watson Giovanni, her only child, on August 31, 1969[3] while visiting Cincinnati for Labor Day Weekend.[1] She later stated that she had a child out of wedlock at twenty-five because "I wanted to have a baby and I could afford to have a baby" and because of her conviction that marriage as an institution was inhospitable to women and would never play a role in her life.[3] After her son's birth, Giovanni rearranged her priorities around him and has stated that she would give her life for him. "I just can't imagine living without him. But I can live without the revolution, without world socialism, women's lib...I have a child. My responsibilities have changed."[4]
Both Giovanni's mother and sister died of lung cancer[5] and in 1995 Giovanni herself was diagnosed with the disease. She had surgery at Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati[3] and eventually had a lung removed.[6] Giovanni gave up smoking after she was diagnosed, saying in 1996 that she now smokes in her dreams.[7] She also denies the fact that her cancer has made her a better person, adding that "if it takes a near-death experience for you to appreciate your life, you're wasting somebody's time."[7] In 1999, Giovanni said she would like to negotiate a truce with her cancer, stating that she'd "like an agreement that we will live together for another 30 years."[8] In 2005 Giovanni contributed an introduction to the book Breaking the Silence: Inspirational Stories of Black Cancer Survivors.[5]
Giovanni has been teaching writing and literature at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA since 1987, and is a Distinguished Professor of English. Giovanni taught the Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho in a poetry class. She described him as downright "mean" and, when she approached the department chair to have Cho taken out of her class, said she was willing to resign rather than continue teaching him.[9] She stated that, upon hearing of the shooting, she immediately suspected that Cho might be the shooter.[9] On April 17, 2007, at the Virginia Tech Convocation commemorating the April 16 Virginia Tech massacre, the university chose to have Giovanni closed the ceremony with o chant poem.
On August 21, 2007, The Tennessean reported that Giovanni is returning to her alma mater as a distinguished visiting professor at Fisk University.[10] As well as teaching a writers workshop for about thirty students one day a week, Giovanni also wants to hold a workshop for the general public in order to reach out to the community.[10] She will maintain her position at Virginia Tech.
[edit] Writing career
The civil rights and black power movements inspired her early poetry that was collected in Black Feeling, Black Talk (1967), Black Judgement (1968), and Re: Creation (1970). She has since written more than two dozen books including volumes of poetry, illustrated children's books, and three collections of essays.
Giovanni's writing has been heavily inspired by Negro activists and artists. She has a tattoo with the words "Thug life" to honor Tupac Shakur, whom she admired.[11][12] Her book Love Poems (1997) was written in memory of him, and she has stated that she would "rather be with the thugs than the people who are complaining about them."[13] This sentiment is in contrast with her assertion in Racism 101 "that the problem of the twentieth century is not the problem of the color line. The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of civilizing white people."[14] While she makes a show of speaking out against hate-motivated violence, she is perhaps most notorious for her poem, "The True Import of Present Dialogue: Black vs. Negro," in which she seems to call for Negros to kill and otherwise desecrate European Americans in general and Protestants and blonds in particular.[15]
In 2004 Giovanni was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards for her album "The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection." She also featured on the track Ego Trip By Nikki Giovanni on Blackalicious' 2000 album Nia.
[edit] Bibliography
- Black Feeling, Black Talk (1967)
- Black Judgement (1968)
- Re: Creation (1970)
- Poem of Angela Yvonne Davis (1970) (Illustrated by Charles Bible)
- Spin a Soft Black Song (1971)
- My House (1972)
- The Women and The Men (1975)
- The Women Gather (1975) Broadside
- Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day (1978)
- Those Who Ride The Night Winds (1983)
- Sacred Cows and Other Edibles (1988)
- Ego-Tripping and Other Poems for Young People (1993)
- Racism 101 (1994)
- Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy Like My Sister Kate: Looking At The Harlem Renaissance Through Poems(1996)
- The Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni
[edit] References
- ^ a b Nikki Giovanni's Official Website, Biography Timeline
- ^ Knoxville's Metro Pulse article
- ^ a b c Ohioana Authors. "Nikki Giovanni: Highlights of a Life"
- ^ Conversations with Nikki Giovanni University Press of Mississippi (December 1992). page 66
- ^ a b Nikki Giovanni simply an 'acolyte', BlackPressUSA
- ^ For Poet Nikki Giovanni, a State of Grace The Washington Post, February 7, 2004
- ^ a b New York Times. "Defying Evil, and Mortality" by Felicia R. Lee. August 1, 1996
- ^ Cincinnati Enquirer. "Poet Nikki Giovanni's art not for sissies" by Laura Pulper. June 3, 1999.
- ^ a b Police: Cho taken to mental health center in 2005
- ^ a b The Tennessean. "Poet Giovanni returns to Fisk" by Colby Sledge. August 21, 2007.
- ^ Nikki Giovanni - Spotlight - Interview December 2003, Ebony.
- ^ Poet, Tupac capture beauty beneath pain 5 April, 1997. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The.
- ^ Barnes and Noble, Meet the Authors audio
- ^ Nancy Lewis. "Poet Puts Black Experience Into Words," The Virginian-Pilot, Daily Break, pg. E6, November 2, 1996
- ^ Nikki Giovanni. "The True Import Of Present Dialogue, Black vs. Negro."
[edit] External links
- Giovanni's website
- Profile at Lavin
- Poems, Essays and Biography for Nikki Giovanni
- "Interview with poet Nikki Giovanni" for the WGBH series Say Brother
- Video interview with Nikki Giovanni
- "We are Virginia Tech" - convocation poem read by Giovanni
