Nikki Giovanni was born Yolande Cornelia Giovanni on June 7, 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Her sister, Gary Giovanni, nicknamed her “Nikki” shortly after her birth, and the nickname stuck. Giovanni’s family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, a few months after she was born, where she would spend most of her childhood. She would visit her grandparents annually back in Knoxville, and eventually moved back at the age of fourteen. Giovanni read a lot as a child, stating that her mother kept a library full of wonderful books at home.
Nikki Giovanni graduated from Austin High School in Knoxville before attending the historically black Fisk University as an “early entrant” in 1960 (Giovanni’s grandfather attended Fisk University years before, but Giovanni notes in her biography that this had no weight on her final decision to attend the university). Not too long after enrolling, Giovanni was dismissed from Fisk University. She had some verbal disagreements with the Dean of Women, and ultimately had difficulty adjusting to the ‘conservatism’ of the campus in regards to gender and race. After her expulsion, she returned to Cincinnati, where she worked at a local Walgreens to support herself while helping take care of her young nephew. She also volunteered and took courses at the University of Cincinnati during the three years she stayed in the city.
In 1964, Giovanni traveled to Fisk University to seek re-admittance. Upon arrival, Giovanni realized the Dean of Women she had issues with had been replaced. The new Dean and Nikki got along very well, and Nikki was encouraged to rejoin the University in the Fall semester of the same year. With the support of her new dean, Dean Cowen, Giovanni began to flourish in and out of the classroom. Over the next couple of years Giovanni began to edit literary journals, she reestablished Fisk University’s Chapter of SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee), and wrote pieces on gender for local Black owned journals. Graduating with honors and a Bachelor's degree in History, Ms. Giovanni’s success was only getting started.
Two months after graduating in January 1967, her grandmother unexpectedly passed away. Her untimely death took an emotional toll on Ms. Giovanni, and she turned to writing as an emotional outlet. It was during this time that she produced most of her first anthology, Black Feeling, Black Talk, although it was not published until 1968.Publishers had negative attitudes towards a Black woman writing militant poetry, so in response Giovanni formed her own company and published her collection by herself (Black Judgement was written and published at a later date, thanks to a grant from the Harlem Council of Arts). She then sold her books to bookstores for a discount to get sales.Ms. Giovanni’s political fervor captivated her audience, and as time went on more people began to catch wind of her publications. By 1969, her name and face were both on papers such as The New York Times.
This was only the start for Ms. Giovanni’s career. Over the last fifty years she has published over 50 books/anthologies, over a dozen of which are for children (inspired by her journey as a single mother of 1, her son Thomas Giovanni), hosted a television show (Soul!), taught in numerous institutions & countries (Queens College in 1969, Rutgers University , The Ohio State University in 1984-85, Mount St. Joseph’s College in 1985-87, France, Germany Poland and Italy for a lecture tour in 1985, Virginia Tech (1983-) as a University Distinguished Professor (1999-), Switzerland in 2014), released six spoken word albums (one of which won National Association of Radio and Television Announcers Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 1972) and so much more. She is a seven time NAACP Image Award recipient, three time Woman of the Year recipient (1970-72), two time Rosa L. Parks Woman of Courage Award recipient (2001-02), and one time recipient of 60 more awards, the latest being the Maya Angelou Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.
Throughout her life, Nikki Giovanni has shown tremendous courage. From raising a beautiful son as a single mother in the 70’s, beating lung cancer in the 90’s, to writing and orating a beautiful speech just a day after the massacre at Virginia Tech in 2007, she has put on numerous displays of true bravery outside of fighting for Black Liberation and Black Power for decades through her artistic expression. She is truly for the People, and we are all affected by her existence. Thank you, Ms. Nikki Giovanni.
