The Biography of Nikki Giovanni - Essay Example

Nikki Giovanni Yolande Cornelia “Nikki” Giovanni was born on the 7th of June 1943. She is a Grammy-nominated American poet, an activist and a writer. Giovanni is now a lecturer of English at Virginia Tech (Morrow 2003). One vital aspect has gotten the entire world attracted to Giovanni, her outspokenness: be it in her writings or lectures, has won her great appreciation. As an African-America, Giovanni concentrates on keeping her pride and respect as a “black mother, mother and professor of literature. This attribution to her race has greatly involved this brilliant writer to work towards bettering the work and respect given to her kind. This has made Giovanni a staunch and strong follower and fighter for civil rights and equality. Her truthfulness has been a huge contributing factor to her fame. Not only does it assure her admirers of her credibility but also allows her to make a definite mark on the Black community. Giovanni’s life has undergone a number of different phases. From an all-black high school she moved out of her parents’ house to live with her grandparents. Responsible for her sister’s child, Giovanni attained maturity at a very young age. She suffered the ordeal of changing schools, making sacrifices and compromising her life for those she loved. In 1967, Giovanni’s grandmother died, this was considered a painful and life-turning moment in the writer’s life. Her closeness to her grandmother is considered to be the most important loss in her life. It was in fact this death that drove her to write. The feelings of grief and loss motivated Giovanni to turn to her writings for comfort. Most of the poems written by her would later be used for the publishing of her first volume Black Feeling Black talks. The Black Feeling Black Talks is a book that reflects the revolutionary stance that is so strong in Giovanni. This volume includes poems written about Black figures that have impressed and won over Giovanni over. There are like personal attributes to people who have affected and shaped the writer’s life and ideology. These include the deaths of John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. Many feel these works to have a militancy stance, showing the strong spirit of revolution present in Giovanni’s work (Lee 1971). In this volume, Giovanni also comments on the atrocities committed in areas like Vietnam and Germany and compares them to the 1960s’ in America (Fabio 1970). This volume is full of works by Giovanni that includes ideas of loss and loneliness which were a part of the writer’s life during the creation of most of these works. This is the first volume printed by the writer from borrowed money. Thus, it is synonymous to a fusion of personal and political poetry. In her early works, she showed signs of maintaining her black identity and seeking a revolution to help better the world. This is all said amidst the idea of maintaining one’s individuality despite the problems and troubles that are faced. Giovanni states mistakes to be a part of life and considers the response to these errors to be of true importance (1971).This book proved that Giovanni was calling for a revolution that would beat the norms. It called for people to understand and view their lives from a personal perspective without losing sight of the political undertones that were an integral part of this perception. This is evident in the last words of this volume which includes a poem that talks of how people can “build what we can become when we dream.” Giovanni’s first work is ample proof that she was a writer burgeoning into a professional and profound author who was on her ways to win the hearts of millions. After the success of Black Feeling Black Talk Giovanni began work towards various other books. The widely-acclaimed Black Judgment and with these also came, My house, The women and the Men and various other works over a successive period of years. Because of all her works and writings, Giovanni is also famous as a speaker and is often called by colleges and universities to come and talk of civil rights and equality. A recent one was held Voorhee’s College for the Black History Month Program. With an attendance of 500 people, Giovanni spoke to the young students about the sufferings of civil rights activists like Martin Luther King Jr. (Sarata 2009). In this talk, Giovanni spoke of how Barack Obama’s victory in the elections is not a symbol of change but the sign of being able to make a change. In her talks, Giovanni often mentions members who contributed to the historical change bought for black people. In this speech she spoke of the Black Panthers and their mode of dressing to advocate the power possessed by their race. Giovanni is also capable of throwing out new ideas to her audience. This talk spoke of the financial power that is held by the government to enslave the common man today. Thus, talks like these are commonly held by Giovanni to move the future generations into understanding their rights and the rights of those around them. As a teacher, Giovanni has the power over a mass audience Other works done by this writer during her speeches are those needed to raise money for her alma mater. An instance of this is Giovanni’s visit to the Smith-Brown Memorial Union where she spoke to the students about the significance contributing to their schools once they graduated (Rogers). Thus, Giovanni also seeks to use her power as an orator to win over, inspire and motivate the coming generations into understanding the efforts made to win their rights to vote and to empower them into working for the betterment and support of these rights. Giovanni has suffered a lot since childhood. Facing the early loss of motivational figures like her father and grandparents, Giovanni matured and grew from a young age. Evidence of this is in her decision to mother a son without a father. This came from her belief that marriage was an institute that worked towards undermining women and thus would never be allowed to alter her life. To Giovanni, what was necessary was her desire to have a baby and the resources to support him. With this thought in mind she fulfilled her job of mothering a child, paying no heed to the world or any other idea. Along with this came Giovanni’s private struggle with lung cancer. After being diagnosed in 1995, she has had a lung removed but that has not lowered any of the spirit and energy in her. 2005 saw the death of Giovanni’s mother and sister which was a huge loss to the writer. Yet, she continues to spread her message of equality and rights everywhere. Giovanni has won several awards. These include honorary doctorates from various colleges including Manhattanville College, Delware State University and West Virginia University. Her children’s book Rosa won Child Magazine Best Child’s Award for the year 2005. This is one of her few accomplishments won by her writing skills. Others include a key to the city of Grambling in Los Angeles, nominations for best spoken word Grammy in their 46th annual awards ceremony and named a woman of strength and courage by the American legacy in New York. Thus, Giovanni has proven herself to be a woman of exceptional standing. Not only has she achieved phenomenal respect in the world of literature but Giovanni has thrived from writing about the personal experiences that made her work so real. She is a courageous woman who faced all odds and came out victorious. Her desire to fight for civil rights and equality makes her a woman with great belief and strength: one who is capable of being named as an almost perfect role model for today’s generation . Works Cited Fabio, Sarah Webster. Black Feeling, Black Talk, Black Judgment. Black World, December, 1970, 102-104. Giovanni N, Black Feeling Black Talk, Harper Perennial, 1971 Lee Don , Dynamite Voices I: Black Poets of the 1960’s, Detroit, Broadside Press, 1971 Morrow W 2003, Timeline, Nikki Giovanni Bio, http://nikki- 14 July 2009 Rogers S, Nikki Giovanni Kicks Off Black History Month at Southern University, The Black Collegian Online, 14 July 2009 Sarata P, Nikki Giovanni: Poet, writer, activist addresses plight of blacks then to now, The Times and Democrat, 23 February 2009 14 July 2009 Read More