Nikki Giovanni is considered a top African-American poet of the twentieth century. Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennessee during 1943 and was raised in a family of strong African-American heritage. She gained popularity during the 1960s and 1970s when the Civil Rights Movement was gaining traction. The connection between her heritage and the Civil Rights Movement was a great source of inspiration for her poetry.
Through her frank and vivid poetic language, she expresses the joys and pains of being black in America. Yet she also ties this experience to her ancestral roots in Africa. This is evident in the poem "Ego Tripping," where she talks about being in the Congo and Egypt. Giovanni shows she is not afraid to get vulnerable and intimate with the reader when talking about her spirituality or insecurities she's faced as a black woman, etc. This is apparent in the poem "Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day," where she describes intrusive problems in her life.
She published several collections of poetry, such as Re: Creation (1970) and Love Poems (1997). Her first published poetry volumes focuses on the deaths of celebrated American figures, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy. Besides publishing poetry, Giovanni has published several literary works of nonfiction and children's literature, etc. Furthermore, she has lectured at multiple universities, such as Rutgers University.
