Nikki Giovanni
Nikki Giovanni
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr.is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. One of the world's most well-known African-American poets, her work includes poetry anthologies, poetry recordings, and nonfiction essays, and covers topics ranging from race and social issues to children's literature. She has won numerous awards, including the Langston Hughes Medal, the NAACP Image Award, and has been nominated for a Grammy Award, for her Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection. Additionally, she has recently been named as one of...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth7 June 1943
CityKnoxville, TN
CountryUnited States of America
Poetry is the most mistaught subject in any school because we teach poetry by form and not by content.
The ability to take pride in your own work is one of the hallmarks of sanity.
Facts are only tools to gain control over yourself and other people.
For most of my life, I've thought of myself as pretty cool.
Fanatics are, for one thing, boring and, for another, unreliable. They tend to burn out just when you need them.
you know a person is having a severe personality crisis if you see a high school class ring on a finger beyond the first semester in college. Male or female. It's a big sign saying nothing has mattered to my life since senior year.
All systems require myths for their longevity.
I am a huge fan of the Black woman. I never hesitate to recommend her when times are bad or things go wrong.
But nonviolence was never for the oppressor; it was for the oppressed.
America may not be the best nation on earth, but it has conceived loftier ideals and dreamed higher dreams than any other nation. America is a heterogeneous nation of many different people of different races, religions, and creeds. Should this experiment go forth and prosper, we will have offered humans a new way to look at life; should it fail, we will simply go the way of all failed civilizations.
If i can't have what i want . . . then my job is to want what i've got and be satisfied that at least there is something more to want
daddy says the world is a drum tight and hard and i told him i’m gonna beat out my own rhythm
If you don't understand yourself you don't understand anybody else.
Sacred cows make very poor gladiators.