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  • February 11, 2025
Nikki Giovanni, poet of the Black Arts Movement, dies at 81

Nikki Giovanni, poet of the Black Arts Movement, dies at 81

Well-known poet Nikki Giovanni passed away on Monday, December 9.

Giovanni, the subject of the award-winning 2023 documentary “Going to Mars,” died with her lifelong partner, Virginia (Ginney) Fowler, by her side, according to a statement from her friend and author Renée Watson. She was 81 years old.

“We will forever feel blessed to have shared a legacy and love with our dear cousin,” Allison (Pat) Ragan, Giovanni’s cousin, said in a statement on behalf of the family.

Giovanni, originally Yolanda Cornelia Giovanni Jr. named, was born on June 7, 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee. She was four when her family moved to Ohio, eventually settling in the black community of Lincoln Heights, outside Cincinnati. However, she later returned to Nashville to study at Fisk University. At Fisk, Giovanni met several writers who became prominent figures in black literature, including Dudley Randall, Margaret Walker, and Amiri Baraka.

Giovanni had a son, Thomas Watson Giovanni, in 1969. She never married the father because, she told Ebony magazine, “I didn’t want to get married and I could afford not to get married.” she lived her life with her partner, Virginia Fowler, a fellow faculty member at Virginia Tech.

Giovanni’s literary career was prolific, with more than 25 books published. Her poetry collections, such as “Black Judgment” and “Black Feeling, Black Talk,” sold thousands of copies, earning her invitations to appear on programs like “The Tonight Show.” Her popularity grew to the point where she was able to fill a 3,000-seat concert hall at Lincoln Center for the celebration of her 30th birthday.

In January 2009, Giovanni wrote a poem about the incoming president, Barack Obama, at the request of NPR:

‘I will walk through the streets

And knock on doors

Share with the people:

Not my dreams, but yours

I’ll talk to the people

I will listen and learn

I’m going to make the butter

Then clean the churn”

(With input from AP)

Published by:

indiatodayglobal

Published on:

December 10, 2024