Nikki Giovanni

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how Nikki Giovanni is a prominent African-American writer who was in her 20s at the peak of the civil rights movement and how the civil rights and black power movements inspired her early poetry that was collected in "Black Feeling, Black Talk" (1967), "Black Judgment" (1968), and "Re: Creation" (1970). This paper looks at the impact of these primarily social movements on Giovanni's early poetry, and argues that it was through these two movements that she found the artistic voice that allowed her to express herself poetically.

From the Paper:

"One of the most important gains of the 1960s and 1970s was the birth of a new kind of politics called "identity politics". Identity politics was born out of the situation of the 1960s and 1970s and is based on strong collective identities which have the capacity to penetrate political life and exert pressure which eventually conduces to changes in policies and even mentalities. It is also based on the idea of victimization of a certain group which is denied its rights and isolated. These groups included ethnic, religious and sexual groups. The major social paradox of the 1960s was that the peaceful fight for civil rights was met with violent opposition; nonetheless, political activists remained strong and left an immense legacy of social change achieved through relentless advocacy which remains a huge inspiration even today. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bloom, Harold, ed. "Nikki Giovanni." Contemporary Black American Poets and Dramatists. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1995: 74-88.
• Images of Blacks in American Culture: A Reference Guide to Information Sources. Ed. Jessie Carney Smith. New York: Greenwood Press, 1988.
• Lee, Felicia R. "Defying Evil, and Mortality" NY Times 1 August, 1996. <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B05E3DC143FF932A3575BC0A960958260>
• Wahlberg, Ryan; Ward, Bianca. "Nikki Giovanni." Bios. 2001.Voices from the Gaps. <http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/giovanni_nikki.html>
• Walters, Jennifer. "Nikki Giovanni and Rita Dove: Poets Redefining" The Journal of Negro History 85.3 (Summer, 2000): 210-217.

More papers on Nikki Giovanni:

• Analytical Essay # 25846 : "Nikki Giovanni's "You are There"
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