Nikki Giovanni

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Nikki Giovanni
Image:Niki-giovanni.jpg
Born June 7 1943 (1943-06-07) (age 66)
Image:Flag of Tennessee.svg Knoxville, Tennessee
Occupation writer, poet, activist
Nationality Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States
Writing period 1960s-present
Website www.nikki-giovanni.com

Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni (born June 7, 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee) is a Grammy-nominated American poet, activist and author. Giovanni is currently a Distinguished Professor of English at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.[1]

Contents

[edit] Life

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 went on to attend 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 she "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]

Image:2007 Virginia Tech massacre - Nikki Giovanni speaks.jpg
Giovanni speaks to a group of mourners at Cassell Coliseum following the Virginia Tech massacre

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] On April 17, 2007, at the Virginia Tech Convocation commemorating the April 16 Virginia Tech massacre, Giovanni closed the ceremony with a chant poem, intoning,:

“ "We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on. We are embracing our mourning. We are Virginia Tech... We do not understand this tragedy... No one deserves a tragedy." ”
She also claimed that she immediately suspected that Cho might be the shooter when she heard about the shooting, and would have been shocked otherwise.[9]

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

Image:Nikki Giovanni.jpg
Nikki Giovanni (2007)
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 African American 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] She also tours nationwide and frequently speaks out against hate-motivated violence. At a 1999 Martin Luther King Day event, she recalled the 1998 murders of James Byrd, Jr. and Matthew Shepard: "What's the difference between dragging a black man behind a truck in Jasper, Texas, and beating a white boy to death in Wyoming because he's gay?"[14]

Those Who Ride the Night Winds (1983) acknowledged notable black figures. Giovanni collected her essays in the 1988 volume Sacred Cows...and Other Edibles. Her most recent works include Acolytes and On My Journey Now.

In 2004 Giovanni was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Grammy in 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] Recognition

Giovanni has received numerous honors for her contributions to literature and society. She has received more than twenty honorary degrees from national colleges and universities and has been given keys to more than a dozen cities in the United States, including New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami, and New Orleans. Giovanni has been named woman of the year by several magazines, including Mademoiselle, Ladies' Home Journal, Ebony, and Essence. She has been awarded the Langston Hughes Medal for Outstanding Poetry and was the first recipient of the Rosa Parks Woman of Courage Award. She is also the recipient of three NAACP Image Awards and an a honorary membership of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.[15][16]

Giovanni was the 2007 recipient of The Chicago Public Library Foundation's Carl Sandburg Literary Award for lifetime achievement. Giovanni is the first poet to be chosen for this honor, which is awarded annually. Giovanni gave a lecture on October 18, 2007, at the Chicago Public Library in part with their Author Series.[17]

[edit] Works about Giovanni

On July 19, 2007 Cleveland's Karamu Theatre, the country's oldest continuously operating racially integrated theatre, premiered The Fire Inside: The Story and Poetry of Nikki Giovanni. The play recounts Giovanni's birth in Tennessee, her upbringing in Cincinnati, her education in books and politics in the 1960s and her maturity into a poet. Giovanni was present at the premiere.[18]

[edit] References in popular culture

Giovanni has had a lasting impression on the media world, her name appearing in various songs and similar outlets. For example, she is referenced in Teena Marie's song "Square Biz," rapper Nas's "American Way" and "These Are Our Heroes" the Digable Planets' "Swoon Units," Latyrx's "Lady Don't Tek No," and Kanye West's "Hey Mama." The Ecuadorean bat Micronycteris giovanniae was named after her in 2007. Nikki Giovanni can also be seen reciting her poem "Adulthood (For Claudia)" in the I'll Make Me a World video series.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Black Feeling, Black Talk (1967)
  • Black Judgement (1968)
  • Re: Creation (1970)
  • Poem of Angela Yvonne Davis (1970) (Illustrated by Charles Bible)
  • 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)
  • Spin a Soft Black Song (1987)
  • 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 (1996)
  • The Sun is So Quiet (1996) (Illustrated by Ashley Bryan)
  • Love Poems (1997)
  • The Genie in the Jar (1998)
  • Blues: For All the Changes: New Poems (1999)
  • Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea: Poems and Not Quite Poems (2002)
  • The Prosaic Soul of Nikki Giovanni (2003)
  • Just For You! The Girls In The Circle (2004)
  • Rosa (2005)
  • On My Journey Now: Looking at African American History Through the Spirituals (2006)
  • Acolytes (2007)

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Nikki Giovanni's Official Website, Biography Timeline
  2. ^ Knoxville's Metro Pulse article
  3. ^ a b c Ohioana Authors. "Nikki Giovanni: Highlights of a Life"
  4. ^ Conversations with Nikki Giovanni University Press of Mississippi (December 1992). page 66
  5. ^ a b Nikki Giovanni simply an 'acolyte', BlackPressUSA
  6. ^ For Poet Nikki Giovanni, a State of Grace The Washington Post, February 7, 2004
  7. ^ a b New York Times. "Defying Evil, and Mortality" by Felicia R. Lee. August 1, 1996
  8. ^ Cincinnati Enquirer. "Poet Nikki Giovanni's art not for sissies" by Laura Pulper. June 3, 1999.
  9. ^ a b Police: Cho taken to mental health center in 2005
  10. ^ a b The Tennessean. "Poet Giovanni returns to Fisk" by Colby Sledge. August 21, 2007.
  11. ^ Nikki Giovanni - Spotlight - Interview December 2003, Ebony.
  12. ^ Poet, Tupac capture beauty beneath pain 5 April, 1997. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The.
  13. ^ Barnes and Noble, Meet the Authors audio
  14. ^ Giovanni tells students to 'sail on', University of Michigan's The University Record, January 25, 1999
  15. ^ GIOVANNI WINS THIRD NAACP IMAGE AWARD, VT NetLetter, April 2003
  16. ^ Nikki Giovanni's Official Website, Awards and Honors
  17. ^ Author Series: Nikki Giovanni (Audio). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
  18. ^ Cleveland.com article

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://india.smashits.com/wikipedia/Nikki_Giovanni"
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