ABSTRACT
Born Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, Jr., Nikki Giovanni pub-lished her first book of poetry, Black Feeling, Black Talk, in 1968. She has since published over 20 volumes and anthologies of poetry and prose focused largely on issues of social and political justice. Over the course of her career Giovanni passed through phases of militancy, radicalism, and pacifism. Although much of Giovanni's early poetry was the product of an intense awareness of a race war that had spiraled to such extreme lows that peace seemed impossible (A Poetic Equation, 1983), many of her later poems center on the importance of relationships with family, friends, and the broader community. Ultimately she argues that for the Black community, true revolution is about claiming the power of self-discovery and self-actualization.
