Nikki Giovanni's Poetry

After reading a brief biography of Nikki Giovanni, I understood her poetry a little better. She is recognized for her outspokenness and speaking the truth. She is a strong supporter of civil rights and equality. She is known for speaking to the individual, not so much the group, as to the power one person has to make a difference in one’s own life as well as the lives of others. Her work has been widely acclaimed receiving many awards and recognitions. She as an individual has also been recognized by many, including Oprah Winfrey who includes Giovanni in her group of “Living Legends”.

The first poem Nikki-Rosa leads to me to wonder if she is comparing and/or talking about herself and Rosa Parks, an activist she wrote much about. Parks lived during the time of the 50s when times were very difficult for the American black person. If Giovanni was writing of her own childhood, she divulged some sincere information about her family. However, I believe this could have been ideas for many of the black race during this time. I also believe this too could have come from many white people during this time. I like her ending of the poem, though, stating “all the while I was quite happy”. I think she is expressing the idea that for the most part it doesn’t take a lot to make a child happy. Sometimes just having the love and presence of your family is all a child needs, even when bad things are going on or there isn’t enough means to provide for all the needs.

Poems for Black Boys was somewhat disturbing for me as I read it. I do not like confrontation and in many ways, I believe this speaks of blacks standing up against their oppressors. Even though this may have been necessary for their safety at the time, it still makes me very uncomfortable to think about. I am very thankful I don’t live in the times when riots were commonplace. It sounds as if she is talking about the ways in which the blacks physically sought revenge against those fighting to take their freedoms and chances of equality from them. She is encouraging the young men to think of new ideas of violence and to teach them to the older people, the old ways weren’t working or had been figured out by the white man. For me, this was a harsh poem in content even though I know it represented the emotions of the time period.