Childhood Memories in Nikki-rosa by Nikki Giovanni

661 Words2 Pages

The poem, “Nikki-rosa” written by Nikki Giovanni, an African American poet, who was born in 1943. During the sixties, she emerged as a black poet whose militancy during the civil rights movement made her immensely popular. In 1968, she published the poem “Nikki-rosa”. In the poem “Nikki-rosa”, she uses her childhood as the basis of this story. Nikki-rosa communicates through her childhood memories, the belief that white people and black people have fundamentally different ideas about wealth and happiness. That white people and black people see their personal life experiences differently. Wealth for black people is love, family, and togetherness; not tangible items. The sense of community and acceptance was more valuable than having even an private toilet. White people see “black wealth” as a hard life and focus on the things that she didn't have, i.e., toilet, bathtub., etc. The structure of “Nikki-rosa” is distinctive yet strong. The lack of punctuation helps to tell the story; blunt thoughts about her childhood, a special moment for the author viewed as a negative by another. T...

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