Today In Black History: Dr. Nikki Giovanni
Internationally acclaimed Black Movement poet, University Distinguished Professor, and Multi-award-winning Published Author
Issue #777 Today In Black History, Wednesday, December 11, 2024
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Born on June 7, 1943, in Knoxville, Tennessee, Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni became a formidable voice in American literature and civil rights. Raised in a tight-knit family, Giovanni spent much of her childhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, before returning to Knoxville to live with her grandparents.
Giovanni attended Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, where the burgeoning civil rights movement deeply influenced her. Her time at Fisk was marked by academic excellence and activism; she revived the university's student chapter of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), showcasing her commitment to social change from an early age.
Nikki Giovanni emerged as a prominent voice during the late 1960s and 1970s Black Arts Movement, a period that sought to redefine African American cultural expression. Her first published volume of poetry, "Black Feeling, Black Talk" (1968), announced her as a powerful chronicler of the African American experience and set the tone for her future works.
During the 1970s, she began writing children's literature. She co-founded a publishing company, NikTom Ltd, to provide an outlet to publish her own work and those of other African-American women writers.
In 1969, she gave birth to Thomas Watson Giovanni, her only child. She told Ebony magazine: "I had a baby at 25 because I wanted to have a baby and I could afford to have a baby. I didn't want to get married, and I could afford not to get married."
After the birth of her son, Giovanni was accused of setting a bad example because there were not many unmarried mothers at that time. Giovanni noted that her son's birth helped her realize that children have different interests and require different content than adults. This realization led her to write six children's books.
Giovanni's work spanned over four decades, including poetry, essays, and children’s literature.
As a University Distinguished Professor of English at Virginia Tech since 1987, Dr. Giovanni inspired countless students through her writing, literature, and culture courses. Giovanni’s influential teaching and mentorship have earned her numerous accolades, solidifying her legacy as an educator passionate about nurturing the next generation of thinkers and creators.
Seung-Hui Cho, a mass murderer who killed 32 people in the Virginia Tech shooting on April 16, 2007, was a student in one of Giovanni's poetry classes. Describing him as "mean" and "menacing," she approached the department chair to have Cho taken out of her class and was removed from her class in 2005. After the massacre, Giovanni stated that, upon hearing of the shooting, she immediately suspected that Cho might be the shooter.
On April 17, 2007, at the Virginia Tech Convocation commemorating the April 16 massacre, Dr. Giovanni closed the ceremony with a chant poem, intoning:
We know we did nothing to deserve it. But neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS. Neither do the invisible children walking the night awake to avoid being captured by a rogue army. Neither does the baby elephant watching his community being devastated for ivory. Neither does the Mexican child looking for fresh water....We are Virginia Tech.... We will prevail.
Shortly before going onstage, she added a closing: "We are Virginia Tech." Her performance received an over 90-second standing ovation from the over-capacity audience in Cassell Coliseum, including then-President George W. Bush.
National Public Radio’s All Things Considered commissioned her to create an inaugural poem for President Barack Obama. The poem “Roll Call: A Song of Celebration” ends with the enthusiastic, optimistic three lines: "Yes We Can/Yes We Can/Yes We Can.”
During the 2020 United States presidential election, Giovanni appeared in a campaign ad for Joe Biden, reading her poem "Dream.”
Throughout her illustrious career, Dr. Giovanni has received numerous awards and honors. These include the NAACP Image Award, the Langston Hughes Medal for poetry, and the National Book Award nomination. Her works have been included in anthologies and study curricula worldwide.
Professor Nikki Giovanni received 31 honorary doctorates.
In 1973, Dr. Giovanni became an honorary member of my sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. Her mother and sister are also members.
Dr. Giovanni announced her retirement from Virginia Tech in September 2022, having taught there for 35 years. She was conferred the title of University Distinguished Professor Emerita by the university in December 2022.
On December 9, 2024, Dr. Nikki Giovanni died of complications from lung cancer in a hospital in Blacksburg, Virginia. She was 81.
She had been working on a memoir titled A Street Called Mulvaney, and her final poetry collection, The Last Book, was set for publication in 2025.
Today In Black History
In 1917, thirty-six Blacks were reported lynched.
In 1950, Black diplomat Dr. Ralph Bunche was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his mediation work in Israel.
In 1963, the African nation of Zanzibar gained independence from Great Britain.
In 1964, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1984. South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
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