2. About Nikki Giovanni
Giovanni was born on 7 June 1943, in Knoxville,
Tennessee, but grew up in Lincoln Heights, which
was an all-black town of Cincinnati, Ohio. Her
parents were Jones and Cornelia Giovanni. She
grew up with her sister Gary and they spent many
summers with their grandparents John Brown and
Louvenia Watson in Knoxville. Giovanni
graduated high school after skipping her senior
year and attended Fisk University in Nashville, her
grandfather’s alma mater.
3. Her Poems
• Black Feeling, Black Talk
• Black Judgment
• Poem for Black Boys
• Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day
• Nikki-Rosa
• Re-Creation
• My House
• The Women and the Men
4. Her Books
• Bicycles: Love Poems
• On My Journey Now: Looking at African-American
History Through the Spirituals
• Rosa
• The Genie in the Jar
• Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea: Poems and Not Quite
Poems
• On My Journey Now: Looking at African-American
History Through the Spirituals
• Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy Like My Sister Kate
5. Her Recorded Albums
• Hip Hop Speaks to Children with CD: A Celebration of
Poetry with a Beat
• The African American Audio Experience
6. Awards
• NAACP Image Award (1998, 2000, 2003, 2008, 2009)
• Langston Hughes Award
• Rosa Parks Women of Courage Award
• Governors’ Awards
7. Conclusion
Her vision was that everyone had the power
to make a difference in other people’s
existence. She gave us her experiences and
perspective and gave us a way to stand our
ground as well.
