Biography

Before doing this project, I had never heard of Nikki Giovanni and I found her on poets.org. After researching an asortment of poets, I finally chose her after hearing her speech at the Virginia Tech Memorial Commemoration. It was lively, thoughtful, and full of passion. I then went on YouTube and looked at some of her interviews, which added another dimension to her: her humor. Not only are some of her poems fun and humorous (like "I Wrote A Good Omelet"), but she herself has a warm-hearted personality. In one interview she talked about her love for chocolate and the Harry Potter books! She is also an inspiration. She is a strong black female who is not afraid to speak her mind on controversial topics. Her poems are not overly complex and send a straightforward message to all listeners in a direct manner. I encourage people to look at her quotes located at the link at the bottom of the post; they are brilliant, captivating, and honest.

Here are some facts about Nikki Giovanni, a world-renowned, contemporary poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator:

• Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on June 7, 1943
• Raised in Cincinnati, Ohio in an all-black suburb
• Graduated with honors in history from Fisk University in 1968
• Later attended the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University
• Has written about 30 books for both adults and children
• Since 1987, she has been on the faculty at Virginia Tech, where she is a University Distinguished Professor

From a professional standpoint, Giovanni has won a variety of awards for her books:

• Her autobiography, Gemini, was a finalist for the National Book Award
• Love Poems, Blues: For All the Changes, Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea, Acolytes, and Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat were all honored with NAACP Image Awards
•  Blues: For All the Changes, a book of poems, reached #4 on the Los Angeles Times Bestseller list
• Children's picture book Rosa, about the civil rights legend Rosa Parks, became a Caldecott Honors Book and reached #3 on The New York Times Bestseller list
• Shortly after its release, Bicycles: Love Poems reached #1 on Amazon.com for Poetry
• Recipient of some twenty-five honorary degrees
• Named Woman of the Year by Mademoiselle Magazine, The Ladies Home Journal, and Ebony Magazine
• Named an Outstanding Woman of Tennessee
• Received Governor's Awards from both Tennessee and Virginia
• First recipient of the Rosa L. Parks Woman of Courage Award
• Awarded the Langston Hughes Medal for poetry
• Received the keys to more than two dozen cities
• See full list here: http://nikki-giovanni.com/awardsnhonors.shtml

Sources:
http://nikki-giovanni.com/
http://nikki-giovanni.com/bio.shtml
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/nikki-giovanni
http://www.afropoets.net/nikkigiovanni.html
Quotes by Nikki Giovanni: http://thinkexist.com/quotes/nikki_giovanni/

Nikki-Rosa

childhood remembrances are always a drag
if you're Black
you always remember things like living in Woodlawn
with no inside toilet
and if you become famous or something
they never talk about how happy you were to have
your mother
all to yourself and
how good the water felt when you got your bath
from one of those
big tubs that folk in chicago barbecue in
and somehow when you talk about home
it never gets across how much you
understood their feelings
as the whole family attended meetings about Hollydale
and even though you remember
your biographers never understand
your father's pain as he sells his stock
and another dream goes
And though you're poor it isn't poverty that
concerns you
and though they fought a lot
it isn't your father's drinking that makes any difference
but only that everybody is together and you
and your sister have happy birthdays and very good
Christmases
and I really hope no white person ever has cause
to write about me
because they never understand
Black love is Black wealth and they'll
probably talk about my hard childhood
and never understand that
all the while I was quite happy

After identifying the struggles that confront you when you are black, Giovanni finishes with: "all the while I was quite happy" (line 33). Bringing up issues "ranging from alcoholism and domestic violence", Giovanni writes that “it isn’t poverty that concerns you...but only that everybody is together” (lines 20-21, 24); the unity within the black community trumps life's cruelties (http://www.enotes.com/nikki-rosa-salem/nikki-rosa). Although she describes the community she grew up in with raw, unrelenting truth, she is opposed to white people's criticism towards black people's lifestyle, for "they never understand" (line 29)(http://www.enotes.com/nikki-rosa-salem/nikki-rosa). Giovanni does not want sympathy from anyone; she embraces her black pride. Three literary devices are narrative poem, metaphor, and synecdoche. Through prosaic style, Giovanni recounts her upbringing in a black community utilizing simple and specific diction, creating characters and a vivid setting. This may be a stretch for a metaphor, but I took the line "Black love is Black wealth" (line 30) to depict that love for blacks is of the same value as having money. In the line previous, the poem says how white people will never understand because they are unable to grasp this concept that love is all one needs to get by. Synecdoche is when a part is substituted for the whole. In lines 18-19, "he sells his stock and another dream goes", the father selling his stock has a greater meaning of poverty in general. Perhaps Giovanni utilized this device in order to depict the means in which poverty beings: starting with selling some stock, then selling some more, then you have none.