Giovanni, Nikki (1943–)
Giovanni, Nikki (1943–)
American poet, essayist and social activist. Born Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, Jr., June 7, 1943, in Knoxville, Tennessee; grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio; Fiske University, BA, 1967; children: 1 son.
Organized Black Arts Festival in Cincinnati; became professor of English and Gloria D. Smith Professor of Black Studies at Virginia Polytechnic and State University; works, which reflect Black Art Movement and focus on politics and race, include Black Feeling Black Talk (1968), Re:Creation (1970), Gemini: An Extended Autobiographical Statement on My First Twenty-Five Years of Being a Black Poet (1971), My House: Poems (1972), A Poetic Equation: Conversations Between Nikki Giovanni and Margaret Walker (1974), The Women and the Men (1975), Those Who Ride the Night Wind (1983), Sacred Cows and Other Edibles (1988), Racism 101 (1994), Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy Like My Sister Kate: Looking at the Harlem Renaissance Through Poems (1996), Love Poems (1997) and Blues for All the Changes (1999); has also written for children and young adults and had a bestselling spoken-word album, Truth Is On Its Way (1970s).