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Suggested Topics:
- Diversity as Art: Art as Diversity
- Racism 101
Yolanda Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, who is a world-renowned poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator, was born in Knoxville , Tennessee , and raised in Ohio . In 1960, she entered Fisk University , where she worked with the school's Writer's Workshop and edited the literary magazine. After receiving her bachelor of arts degree, she organized the Black Arts Festival in Cincinnati and then entered graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania .
Over the past thirty years, Nikki's outspokenness, in her writing and in person, has brought the eyes of the world upon her. One of the most widely read American poets, she prides herself on being "a Black American, a daughter, a mother, a professor of English." Giovanni remains as determined and committed as ever to the fight for civil rights and equality. Always insisting on presenting the truth as she sees it, she has maintained a prominent place as a strong voice of the Black community.
Her focus is on the individual, specifically, on the power one has to make a difference in oneself, and thus, in the lives of others. Nikki Giovanni has written more than two dozen books , including volumes of poetry, illustrated children's books , and three collections of essays. In her first two collections, Black Feeling, Black Talk (1968) and Black Judgement (1969), Giovanni reflects on the African-American identity. Recently, she has published Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea: Poems and Not-Quite Poems (William Morrow & Co., 2002) Blues For All the Changes: New Poems (1999), Love Poems (1997) and Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni (1996). Her book Racism 101 includes bold, controversial essays about the situation of Americans on all sides of various race issues.
She has received nineteen honorary doctorates and a host of other awards, including "Woman of the Year" awards from three different magazines as well as Governors' Awards in the Arts from both Tennessee and Virginia . Her two most recent volumes of poetry, Love Poems and Blues: For All the Changes, were both winners of the NAACP Image Award, in 1998 and 2000, respectively. Her honors include the NAACP Image Award for Literature in 1998, and the Langston Hughes award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts and Letters in 1996. Several magazines have named Giovanni Woman of the Year, including Essence, Mademoiselle, and Ladies Home Journal.
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