Award-winning US poet Nikki Giovanni, a leading voice of the 1960s Black Arts movement, has passed away at the age of 81. She died following her third cancer diagnosis, leaving a lasting impact on the literary world. Known for her accessible poetry on Black liberation, love, and family life, Giovanni published over 30 books and was part of the burgeoning Black Arts movement alongside figures such as Maya Angelou and James Baldwin. She also taught English at Virginia Tech for over three decades.
Throughout her career, Giovanni championed hip-hop, wrote children’s books, and edited poetry and essays. She became a public figure after appearing on the Black arts show Soul! and engaged in civil rights activism. Despite being monitored by the FBI, she remained unapologetically political and vocal about her beliefs.
Giovanni’s legacy is not only in her writing, but also in her resilience. She survived lung cancer in the 1990s, endured the tragedy of having one of her former students commit a mass shooting, and continued to create until her passing. She leaves behind a final poetry collection and a memoir in progress, as well as her son Thomas, granddaughter, and spouse Virginia Fowler.
In a statement following her death, friends and colleagues remembered Giovanni as a mentor and literary mother figure who dedicated herself to uplifting others through her work. With her passing, the literary world has lost a pioneering voice whose impact will continue to resonate for generations to come.
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