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Nikki Giovani Minority Lounge at Mosher Jordan Hall, Apr 12, 2024 Photo by: Aiden Gomez.
Pioneering Poet
Pioneering Poet
by Aiden Gomez
As a pioneering African American woman poet Nikki Giovanni has devoted herself to empowering fellow Black writers, especially Black woman writers. There's a space at the University of Michigan in her honor. Located in Mosher Jordan Hall, on the Jordan side, is the often busy Nikki Giovanni Minority Lounge.
The name Nikki means “people of victory; goodness” and Giovanni has definitely been a person that's been for the people in advocating and speaking out for injustices (“Niki”). Giovanni’s work explores issues related to race, gender, sexuality, and the African American family, according to the Poetry Foundation. Her poetry is political, but it also works in uplifting the Black experience in the arts and as part of the Black Arts Movement (“Nikki Giovanni”).
The lounge was dedicated to Giovanni in 1999 because of her activism and literary contributions, according to the UM housing website. Giovanni visited campus that same year to speak during the annual MLK Jr. Symposium Day. She also visited her namesake space to speak to students about activism and poetry (“Nikki Giovanni Minority”).
Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennessee on June 7, 1943, and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. She graduated with a degree in history from Fisk University in 1967, according to the Poetry Foundation. During her time as an undergrad, Giovanni also participated in the Black Arts Movement and Black Power Movement in the 1960’s, which called on Black, Latino, and Asian American artists to write about their own cultures and histories, challenging the status quo of writing and activism (Buchanan). During this time no one wanted to publish Giovanni's poetry because of the reputation she had as an activist. So in 1968, she self published her first poetry book called Black Feeling Black Talk which caught many by storm selling over 2,000 copies in the first year (“Nikki Giovanni”). The journal article “The Complications of Being Nikki Giovanni” says Giovanni's work is the "precedence of the individual over ideology" in focusing on the individual and their unique right, and freedom they have rather than the ideological principle.
Nikki Giovanni, an African American poet and activist. Photo courtesy: University of Michigan Housing.
The poet recently retired from Virginia Tech in 2022 after teaching for 35 years. She still holds the title of Professor Emerita in the university's English department. She has also published 11 illustrated children's books, received 30 honorary degrees, seven NAACP Image Awards, and has been a finalist for both a Grammy and for the National Book Award (Boone).
Nikki Giovanni speaks at Rackham Auditorium, Feb. 2023. Photo by: Ali Chami/The Michigan Daily.
After 24 years, Giovanni returned to UM last year to have a conversation with students hosted by the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs (“All Events"). She discussed the dissipation of legal segregation while also acknowledging the harsh realities of racial discrimination that still goes on in the world today (Jacobson). She also mentioned how “her generation broke down segregation but didn’t break down racism that we still face today,” gave solutions on how people should interact with each other to bring peace in the world, and encouraging students to vote (Jacobson).
Nikki Giovanni continues to advocate for the right to vote worldwide and supports the right of incarcerated people to vote. While she may not be teaching anymore, Giovanni has left us with a lot to look back on, especially as writers. So the next time you step foot in the Nikki Giovanni Minority Lounge, take some time to acknowledge why this comfortable space was named after this important woman and celebrate her accomplishments.
Works Cited
“All Events: U-M LSA Department of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS).” LSA, lsa.umich.edu/daas/news-events/all-events.detail.html/104166-21808549.html. Accessed 22 Mar. 2024.
Boone, Jenny Kincaid. “End of a Poetic Era: Nikki Giovanni Retires as English Professor at Virginia Tech.” Virginia Tech News | Virginia Tech, 31 Aug. 2022, news.vt.edu/articles/2022/08/clahs-giovanniretirement.html. Accessed 22 Mar. 2024.
Buchanan, Rebekah. “The Black Arts Movement and Nikki Giovanni.” Tri States Public Radio, 31 Jan. 2018, www.tspr.org/local-commentaries/2018-01-31/the-black-arts-movement-and-nikki-giovanni. Accessed 21 Mar. 2024
Chami, Ali. "Nikki Giovanni speaks at Rackham Auditorium Wednesday night." February 10, 2023, www.michigandaily.com/campus-life/nikki-giovanni-discusses-race-books-and-going-to-mars-at-rackham-auditorium/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2024.
Gomez, Aiden. Nikki Giovanni Minority Lounge ast Mosher Jordan Hall. 12 Apr. 2024. Author's personal collection.
Jacobson, Luke. “Nikki Giovanni Speaks at the University of Michigan.” The Michigan Daily, 10 Feb. 2023, www.michigandaily.com/campus-life/nikki-giovanni-discusses-race-books-and-going-to-mars-at-rackham-auditorium/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2024.
“Niki.” Baby Name Meaning, Origin and Popularity, www.thebump.com/b/niki-baby-name# . Accessed 22 Mar. 2024.
“Nikki Giovanni Minority Lounge.” Michigan Housing, housing.umich.edu/cultural-lounge/nikki-giovanni/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2024.
“Nikki Giovanni.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/nikki-giovanni. Accessed 22 Mar. 2024.
Stanford, Ann Folwell. “The Complications of Being Nikki Giovanni.” African American Review, vol. 28, no. 3, 1994, pp. 481–84. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3041983. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.
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