Essay On Nikki Giovanni

1445 Words3 Pages

Born on June 7, 1943, in Knoxville, Tennessee, Nikki Giovanni was originally named Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, Jr. Giovanni is an African-American woman that expresses her passion and ethical messages through her poetry. Throughout Giovanni’s life, she has moved around the United States numerous times, learning and adapting to new environments and new duties each time. Not all communities that she arrived at welcomed her with open arms.She inherited a powerful gratitude of her culture and heritage through her grandmother, which influenced her as a poet. As she got older she attended an all-black college, Fisk University. Her first published poetry was motivated by the assassinations of great activist like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. …show more content…

She was recognized as one of the leaders in poet society during the new Black Renaissance. After birthing a son, she shifted her focus towards poetry for children. Written for children, her poem consisted of imagery and feelings focusing on history of African Americans to ensure the younger generation had a exposure to their heritage. Thus, this leads to her own individual experience of the oppressive society in the mid to late 1900s. “Ego-Trippin’,” one of her most famous work was written for both adults as well as children, especially for girls. So why did she write “Ego-Trippin?” This poem was composed for she wanted to offer something special to to girls and “wanted the young women to know they to are wonderful” (“Nikki Giovanni Interview Transcript”). Nikki Giovanni’s “Ego-Trippin’,” reflects a prideful outlook on life and self-worth, and through an egotistical tone, she promotes the black feminism, respect for family, and artistic expression during the …show more content…

For children, she wrote Jimmy Grasshopper Versus the Ants (2007) and Rosa (2005), a picture book about legendary civil rights figure Rosa Parks” (“Nikki Giovanni”). Throughout her promotion and contributions to the movement, she reveals through more of her works, “In her collection Racism 101 (1994), she looks back at her experiences of the civil rights movement and its aftermath” (“Nikki

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