Nikki Giovanni, the acclaimed poet and prominent voice of the 1960s Black Arts movement, died Monday at the age of 81.
Giovanni was battling cancer for a third time, according to a statement shared with NPR by her friend and author Renée Watson. Just three weeks ago, Nikki Giovanni performed alongside saxophonist Javon Jackson at the Louis Armstrong House in New York City. Her final collection of poetry, The Last Book, is set to be published in the fall of 2025.
"We will forever be grateful for the unconditional time she gave to us, to all her literary children across the writerly world," said the poet Kwame Alexander.
Born Yolande Cornelia Giovanni Jr. in 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee, Giovanni pursued her education at Fisk University in Nashville. During her time there, she connected with prominent Black literary figures such as Amiri Baraka and Dudley Randall. She later honed her craft by studying poetry at Columbia University's School of the Arts.
When she died, she was working on a final poetry collection, as well as a memoir titled A Street Called Mulvaney.
"I used to think I'm mellowing," Giovanni told the Guardian in February. "You know, getting to be an old lady and I'm really cool. And then I realised, no, there's still quite a bit of anger."
Here are some quotes to remember Giovanni:
"I love you because no two snowflakes are alike, and it is possible, if you stand tippy-toe, to walk between the raindrops."
"the world is not a pleasant place to be without someone to hold and be held by."
"Mistakes are a fact of life: It is the response to the error that counts."
"Don't want to be near you for the thoughts we share but the words we never have to speak."
"You must be unintimidated by your own thoughts because if you write with someone looking over you shoulder, you'll never write."
"Deal with yourself as a individual worthy of respect, and make everyone else deal with you the same way."
"If I can't do what I want to do, then my job is to not do what I want to do. It's not the same thing, but it's the best thing I can do."
"Black Poetry is not for Black People...it is for everybody"
"We cannot leave it to history as a discipline nor to sociology nor science nor economics to tell the story of our people"
"I am always lonely for things I've never had and people I've never been."
