The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
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I'm Aisha Roscoe, and this is a Sunday Story from Up First. I always like summer best. You can eat fresh corn from Daddy's garden, and okra, and greens, and cabbage, and lots of barbecue, and buttermilk, and homemade ice cream at the church picnics. These are the words of the great African-American poet, Nikki Giovanni, from her poem, Knoxville, Tennessee. She died earlier this week at the age of 81. Nikki Giovanni was called many things, the poet of the Black Revolution, activist, spoken word artist, cultural icon, children's book author, professor, Christian, radiant voice of Black joy and struggle. To me, she was also an unapologetic truth teller. And some of her words and poems, I could feel them at a molecular level.
That's how much I related to them. Giovanni grew up with an alcoholic, abusive father in a house without indoor plumbing. And while she was never afraid to explore those hardships in her poetry, she also celebrated what was beautiful about community, food, and family. Earlier this year, my colleague and host of the podcast, Wild Card, Rachel Martin, spoke to Nikki Giovanni. Today, we bring you this incredible conversation. Do you think about the legacy that you will leave behind?
No.
Wow, I'm surprised by that answer.
Huh. No, because it gets you caught up in your life, and that's not what you like. Your life is not about your life. Your life is about your duty.
I'm Rachel Martin, and this is Wildcard, the game where cards control the conversation. Each week, my guest chooses questions at random from a deck of cards. Pick a card one through three. Questions about the memories, insights, and beliefs that have shaped them. My guest this week is poet Nikki Giovanni.
When you look at the stars and then you think about the other life forms, you think, well, there is something else. I can't quit now. There is something else.
There are so many words I could use to describe my guest today. Poet, revolutionary, queer icon, feminist, space enthusiast, mother and grandmother, legend. Nikki Giovanni is all those things. But she is also a woman who figured out really early that she didn't have to apologize to anyone for who she was or for what she wanted from her life. She can write poems that look directly at all the pain and hatred in the world. And she can write children's books about feeling safe and loved. She can also conjure what it will look like when humans set up shop on Mars and black women lead the way. Nikki Giovanni has just been doing it her own way all along and writing it down so the rest of us can start to see beyond ourselves and whatever hard thing we happen to be stuck in at any particular moment. Nikki Giovanni, welcome to Wildcard. I'm so glad you're here.
Oh, thanks, Rachel. I'm glad to be here.
81.
I can't believe it. You know, I used to say all the time, you know, I really liked old age. It was a good idea. But 80 really kicked my butt. And I'm hoping that 81 is a lot better. I just got out of the hospital about a week ago. I'm just old. And I was dehydrated. And I had to go to London twice. And I like London, but flying back and forth is... I know. I could have swam. You know, I would have been better off.
There you go.
There you go.
So are you a person who enjoys a good birthday party? Did you have one?
Oh. I am not, and I did. No, you know, parties are work, no matter what anybody says. But we played bid whist. I have a bid whist group. I don't know what that is.
That's a card game?
It's like bridge, only for more intelligence.
If you do, say so yourself.
We're going to get letters on that one. And my dear friend, whom I love so much, Javon Jackson, came down. And Javon doesn't go anyplace without his saxophone. So he plays sax. He plays dinner sax. And so that was very nice because there was no work I didn't have to do.
That sounds like a good birthday.
Yeah, I was glad to be out of the hospital, and I was glad to be with friends. And I didn't have to get dressed. I did shower, but I didn't have to be dressed.
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