These themes are especially apparent in her first two volumes, Black Feeling, Black Talk (Harper Perennial, 1968) and Black Judgment (Broadside Press, 1969), in which the poem “Nikki-Rosa” first appeared. In her early work, Giovanni expressed the militant themes of the Black Arts Movement. Giovanni then enrolled in an MFA program at Columbia in 1969. From 1967 to 1968, she studied social work at the University of Pennsylvania. She graduated magna cum laude in February 1967 with BA in history. Before taking graduate courses at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia, Giovanni organized the Black Arts Festival in Cincinnati. Giovanni also restored Fisk’s chapter of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Giovanni returned to Fisk four years later and participated in the Fisk Writing Workshops directed by then writer-in-residence John Oliver Killens. She was dismissed after her first semester for failing to conform to the university’s conservative standards. In 1960, Giovanni enrolled at Fisk University. Her older sister, Gary Ann, began to call Giovanni “Nikki” during childhood. Raised in Woodlawn, Ohio, north of Cincinnati, Giovanni was the youngest of two daughters. She was the daughter of Jones “Gus” Giovanni and Yolande Cornelia Giovanni (née Watson). Learn more about the poet's life and work at her website, which includes a chronology of important events in her life and a full list of her published works.Yolanda Cornelia “Nikki” Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on June 7, 1943.

Watch Nikki Giovanni recite 'Nikki-Rosa' in this video from 2014. Learn more about the history of the Black Arts Movement, and its connection to the Black Power Movement, in this article from the New York Public Library. This page also includes links to other poems by the poet, articles that talk about Giovanni, and other related information. Read about Nikki Giovanni's poetry and critical responses to her work in this biography at the Poetry Foundation.

This collection includes a range of poems by Black Arts Movement writers, as well as podcasts and essays about their work. Explore this special feature at the Poetry Foundation website to learn more about the Black Arts Movement. Collection of Work from the Black Arts Movement

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