Educator, civil rights activist, author, poet, Nikki Giovanni is one of the most revered and influential people of our generation. She has engaged our souls over the years with her profound and powerful applications of ideas about life through verse and voice. Nikki’s impassioned words have courted controversy, yet have also taken our minds into unmapped territories of the imagination. 50BOLD celebrates the now 74-year-old poetess with a poetry excerpt from her latest work, A Good Cry, What We Learn From Tears and Laughter, a collection that tells about coping with life, growth, and pain through poems, short stories, and essays.
BLACK LIVES MATTER
(Not a Hashtag)
I’m not ashamed
of our history
because I know
there is more
to come
I’m not ashamed
of slavery
neither bought
nor sold
because I know
there is another
answer
I’m not ashamed
of dark or light
skin
straight or curly
or nappy—let’s call it that—
hair
I’m not ashamed
of thick or thin
lips
nor that time
we waste signing
and dancing
we taught the white
folks
to sing and dance
too
I’m proud of Simon
The Cyrene
Nobody made him
help Jesus
He did his part
I’m proud of the woman
who moaned on the ship
at the 10th Day
for admitting if not defeat
then certainly change
I’m proud of the Rappers
who Rap
and most especially
I’m proud
that
Black Lives Matter
We Do
We honestly
Do
─ Nikki Giovanni
A GOOD CRY, What We Learn From Tears and Laughter is Nikki Giovanni’s 27th volume of poetry. The book is currently on sale from William Morrow.