NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Nikki Giovanni

Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni (born June 7, 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee) is a Grammy-nominated American poet, activist and author. Giovanni is currently a Distinguished Professor of English at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.^[1] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (512x768, 45 KB) Portriat of Nikki Giovanni by Elsa Dorfman File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Nickname: Location within the U.S. State of Tennessee. ... For the album by the Kaiser Chiefs see Employment (album) Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... The poor poet A poet is a person who writes poetry. ... Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action to bring about social or political change. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nickname: Location within the U.S. State of Tennessee. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The poor poet A poet is a person who writes poetry. ... Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, better known as Virginia Tech, is a public land grant polytechnic university in Blacksburg, Virginia, USA. Although it is a comprehensive university with many departments, the agriculture, engineering, architecture, forestry, and veterinary medicine programs from its historical polytechnic core are still considered to be...

Life

Nikki Giovanni was born June 7, 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee to Yolande Cornelia, Sr. and Jones "Gus" Giovanni. ^[2] She grew up in Lincoln Heights, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, and in 1960 began her studies at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, her grandfather's alma mater. She graduated in 1967 with honors, receiving a B.A. in history. Afterwards she went on to attend University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. She gave birth to Thomas Watson Giovanni, her only child, in 1969 while visiting Cincinnati for Labor Day Weekend.^[1] During that same year, she began teaching at Livingston College of Rutgers University. She has been teaching writing and literature at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA since 1987, and is a Distinguished Professor of English. Nickname: Location within the U.S. State of Tennessee. ... Lincoln Heights is a village located in Hamilton County, Ohio. ... Nickname: Motto: Juncta Juvant (Strength in Unity) Location in Hamilton County, Ohio, USA Coordinates: , Country United States State Ohio County Hamilton Founded 1788 Incorporated 1802 (village) - 1819 (city) Government - Type Mayor-council government - Mayor Mark L. Mallory (D) Area - City 79. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Fisk University is a historically black university in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. It was established by John Ogden, Reverend Erastus Milo Cravath and Reverend Edward P. Smith and named in honor of General Clinton B. Fisk of the Tennessee Freedmens Bureau. ... Nickname: Location in Davidson County and the state of Tennessee Coordinates: , Country United States State Tennessee Counties Davidson County Founded: 1779 Incorporated: 1806 Government - Mayor Bill Purcell (D) Area - City 526. ... This article is about the private Ivy League university in Philadelphia. ... Columbia University is a private research university in the United States and a member of the prestigious Ivy League. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... Rutgers redirects here. ... â€œRutgersâ€ redirects here. ... Blacksburg is a town located in Montgomery County, Virginia. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ...

Giovanni is a lung cancer survivor and eventually lost a lung as a result.^[3] Both her mother and sister died of lung cancer, and in 2005 she contributed an introduction to the book Breaking the Silence: Inspirational Stories of Black Cancer Survivors.^[4] Lung cancer is the malignant transformation and expansion of lung tissue, and is the most lethal of all cancers worldwide, responsible for 1. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Giovanni taught the Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho in a poetry class. She described him as downright "mean" and, when she approached the department chair to have Cho taken out of her class, said she was willing to resign rather than continue teaching him.^[5] On April 17, 2007, at the Virginia Tech Convocation commemorating the April 16 Virginia Tech massacre, Giovanni closed the ceremony with a chant poem, intoning, "We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on. We are embracing our mourning. We are Virginia Tech... We do not understand this tragedy... No one deserves a tragedy." She also claimed that she immediately suspected that Cho might be the shooter when she heard about the shooting, and would have been shocked otherwise.^[5] Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Cassell Coliseum is a 10,052-seat multi-purpose arena in Blacksburg, Virginia. ... The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting comprising two separate attacks about two hours apart on April 16, 2007, on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. ... The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting comprising two separate attacks about two hours apart on April 16, 2007, on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Norris Hall, where 30 people were murdered The following is a timeline of events from the Virginia Tech massacre. ... Aerial photo showing location of Norris and West Ambler Johnston Halls. ... This is a Korean name; the family name is Cho Cho Seung-hui (January 18, 1984 â€“ April 16, 2007), was the perpetrator of the Virginia Tech massacre[3][4] of April 16, 2007, in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States, according to police reports. ... The following article is a summary of media coverage and reaction to the Virginia Tech massacre of April 16, 2007, the largest school shooting in American history. ... This is a Korean name; the family name is Cho Cho Seung-hui (January 18, 1984 â€“ April 16, 2007), was the perpetrator of the Virginia Tech massacre[3][4] of April 16, 2007, in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States, according to police reports. ... The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting comprising two separate attacks about two hours apart on April 16, 2007, on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. ...

Works by Giovanni

The civil rights and black power movements inspired her early poetry that was collected in Black Feeling, Black Talk (1967), Black Judgement (1968), and Re: Creation (1970). She has since written more than two dozen books including volumes of poetry, illustrated children's books, and three collections of essays. Martin Luther King is perhaps most famous for his I Have a Dream speech, given in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom This article is about the civil rights movement following the Brown v. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Giovanni's writing has been heavily inspired by African American activists and artists. She has a tattoo with the words "Thug life" to honor Tupac Shakur, whom she admired.^[6]^[7] Her book Love Poems (1997) was written in memory of him, and she has stated that she would "rather be with the thugs than the people who are complaining about them."^[8] She also tours nationwide and frequently speaks out against hate-motivated violence. At a 1999 Martin Luther King Day event, she recalled the 1998 murders of James Byrd, Jr. and Matthew Shepard: "What's the difference between dragging a black man behind a truck in Jasper, Texas, and beating a white boy to death in Wyoming because he's gay?"^[9] An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 â€“ September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac, Makaveli, or simply as Pac, was an American artist renowned for his rap music, movie roles, poetry, and his social activism. ... James Byrd, Jr. ... Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 â€“ October 12, 1998) was an American student at the University of Wyoming who was fatally attacked near Laramie, on the night of October 6 â€“ October 7, 1998 in what was widely reported by international news media as a savage beating because of his homosexuality. ...

Giovanni has received numerous honors for her contributions to literature and society. She has received more than twenty honorary degrees from national colleges and universities and has been given keys to more than a dozen cities in the United States, including New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami, and New Orleans. Giovanni has been named woman of the year by several magazines, including Mademoiselle, Ladies' Home Journal, Ebony, and Essence. She has been awarded the Langston Hughes Medal for Outstanding Poetry and was the first recipient of the Rosa Parks Woman of Courage Award. She is also the recipient of three NAACP Image Awards and an a honorary membership of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.^[10]^[11] New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Nickname: Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: , State California County Los Angeles County Settled 1781 Incorporated April 4, 1850 Government - Type Mayor-Council - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa - City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo - Governing body City Council Area - City 498. ... Nickname: Motto: Live Large. ... For other uses, see Miami (disambiguation). ... Nickname: Location in the State of Louisiana and the United States Coordinates: , Country United States State Louisiana Parish Orleans Founded 1718 Government - Mayor Ray Nagin (D) Area - City 350. ... The NAACP Image Award is an award presented annually by the NAACP to honor the top African-Americans in film, television, music and literature. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Those Who Ride the Night Winds (1983) acknowledged notable black figures. Giovanni collected her essays in the 1988 volume Sacred Cows...and Other Edibles. Her most recent works include Acolytes and On My Journey Now.

In 2004 Giovanni was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Grammy in the 46th Annual Grammy Awards for her album "The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection." She also featured on the track Ego Trip By Nikki Giovanni on Blackalicious' 2000 album Nia. The Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album has been awarded since 1959. ... The 46th Grammy Awards were held on the February 8, 2004. ... Blackalicious is an American alternative hip hop duo. ... Nia is the debut full-length album by American hip hop duo Blackalicious, released on February 8, 2000 on Quannum Projects. ...

Works about Giovanni

On July 19, 2007 Cleveland's Karamu Theatre, the country's oldest continuously operating racially integrated theatre, premiered The Fire Inside: The Story and Poetry of Nikki Giovanni. The play recounts Giovanni's birth in Tennessee, her upbringing in Cincinnati, her education in books and politics in the 1960s and her maturity into a poet. Giovanni was present at the premier.[1]

References in popular culture

Giovanni has had a lasting impression on the media world, her name appearing in various songs and similar outlets. For example, she is referenced in Teena Marie's song "Square Biz," rapper Nas's "American Way" and "These Are Our Heroes" the Digable Planets' "Swoon Units," Latyrx's "Lady Don't Tek No," and Kanye West's "Hey Mama." The Ecuadorean bat Micronycteris giovanniae was named after her in 2007. Teena Marie (born Mary Christine Brockert on March 5, 1956 in Santa Monica, California) is an American singer/songwriter/producer. ... Nasir Jones (born September 14, 1973), known simply as Nas and formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper. ... Digable Planets is a New York City based alternative hip hop group composed of Ishmael Butterfly Butler (from New York), Craig Doodlebug Irving (from Philadelphia), and Mary Ann Ladybug Mecca Vieira (from Washington, D.C.). They were backed by Silkworm, who later embarked on a solo career under the name... Kanye Omari West (pronounced /kÉ‘n. ... Hey Mama is a song originally on the mixtape Freshman Adjustment after some editing to the song it was then also put on Kanye Wests second album, Late Registration. ... Motto Dios, patria y libertad(Spanish) Pro Deo, Patria et Libertas(Latin) God, homeland and liberty Anthem Salve, Oh Patria We Salute You, Our Homeland Capital Quito Largest city Guayaquil Official languages Spanish Government Republic - President Rafael Correa - Vice-President LenÃn Moreno Independence - from Spain May 24, 1822 - from...

Bibliography

Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is a African American radical activist, primarily working for racial and gender equality and for prison reform. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... A spiritual is a African-American song, usually with a religious text. ...

References

^ ^a ^b Nikki Giovanni's Official Website, Biography Timeline
^ Knoxville's Metro Pulse article
^ For Poet Nikki Giovanni, a State of Grace The Washington Post, February 7, 2004
^ Nikki Giovanni simply an 'acolyte', BlackPressUSA
^ ^a ^b Police: Cho taken to mental health center in 2005
^ Nikki Giovanni - Spotlight - Interview December 2003, Ebony.
^ Poet, Tupac capture beauty beneath pain 5 April, 1997. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The.
^ Barnes and Noble, Meet the Authors audio
^ Giovanni tells students to 'sail on', University of Michigan's The University Record, January 25, 1999
^ GIOVANNI WINS THIRD NAACP IMAGE AWARD, VT NetLetter, April 2003
^ Nikki Giovanni's Official Website, Awards and Honors

Contents

Life

Works by Giovanni

Works about Giovanni

References in popular culture

Bibliography

References

External links

Contents

Life GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Works by Giovanni

Works about Giovanni

References in popular culture

Bibliography

References

External links

Life