Quotessence
Home / Authors / Nikki Giovanni Books
Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni Books

Writer

Acolytes

A source page for quotes linked to Nikki Giovanni.

0 quotes

Racism 101

A source page for quotes linked to Nikki Giovanni.

0 quotes

My House

A source page for quotes linked to Nikki Giovanni.

0 quotes

Love Poems

A source page for quotes linked to Nikki Giovanni.

0 quotes

Re:creation

A source page for quotes linked to Nikki Giovanni.

0 quotes

Related Quotes

“When arrogance calls it should always be poetry that answers thereby granting a stay to humankind's feelings of omnipotence. When love calls it must be poetry that answers bringing the sweet perfume of gentleness as our hearts pound and pound; when courage calls it will always be poetry that answers as we rise above ourselves to bring about a better thing. When war calls, poetry is the only answer. Poetry says No to destruction and Yes to possibility. Poetry is a good idea. A good friend. A good neighbor. Let's write poems.”

LoveWritingWarPoetryCourageArrogancePoems
Book:Acolytes
Create image

“Ntozake Shange tells us it's not so good to be born a girl. She does not object to being born a girl. She objects to what it means when you are born a girl. She objects to the way that girls are treated. She objects to the way that our dreams are stifled. She objects to the way that we are not taken seriously, we are there as some sort of plaything,”

PoetryWomenPoemsGirlsSexismNtozake Shange
Book:Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy Like My Sister Kate: Looking At The Harlem Renaissance Through Poems
Create image

“I think that, in reality, there is something wrong with human beings, and unless we are willing to face the fact that something is really wrong with human beings, unless we are willing to face the fact that somewhere in our imaginations we are evil, vicious people, it is not going to work.”

HumansEvilHuman BeingsCrueltyViciousness
Book:Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy Like My Sister Kate: Looking At The Harlem Renaissance Through Poems
Create image

“Ego Tripping I was born in the congo I walked to the fertile crescent and built the sphinx I designed a pyramid so tough that a star that only glows every one hundred years falls into the center giving divine perfect light I am bad I sat on the throne drinking nectar with allah I got hot and sent an ice age to europe to cool my thirst My oldest daughter is nefertiti the tears from my birth pains created the nile I am a beautiful woman I gazed on the forest and burned out the sahara desert with a packet of goat's meat and a change of clothes I crossed it in two hours I am a gazelle so swift so swift you can't catch me For a birthday present when he was three I gave my son hannibal an elephant He gave me rome for mother's day My strength flows ever on My son noah built new/ark and I stood proudly at the helm as we sailed on a soft summer day I turned myself into myself and was jesus men intone my loving name All praises All praises I am the one who would save I sowed diamonds in my back yard My bowels deliver uranium the filings from my fingernails are semi-precious jewels On a trip north I caught a cold and blew My nose giving oil to the arab world I am so hip even my errors are correct I sailed west to reach east and had to round off the earth as I went The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid across three continents I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal I cannot be comprehended except by my permission I mean...I...can fly like a bird in the sky...”

Poetry
Author:Nikki Giovanni
Create image

“Prison is not a good idea because it puts two people in prison: the prisoner and the guard. And the rest of us become inheritors of The Fugitive Slave Law, requiring us to turn in people who seek their freedom through the Underground Railroad or the overland express, or face the consequences of the full force of the law for not doing so. Newspapers, radio, television, and movies have made us afraid of our fellow citizens who are accused of being heretics, witches, christians, Jews, Muslims, drug lords, drug users, prostitutes, sodomites, anything somehow different from what we think we are or should be but not afraid of slum lords, union busters, corrupt and graft-taking politicians, insider traders, employers paying less than minimum wage, college presidents shutting down debate.”

PoetryFearPoemPrisonDifference
Book:Acolytes
Create image

“It was wrong. It was wrong to pay the same dime yet have to walk to the back of the bus. It was wrong to have to pass a "white" school to go to a "colored" school. It was wrong to have Colored and White signs. It was wrong that Emmett Till was murdered. It was wrong that the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was dynamited. It was wrong that Medgar Evers was shot in the back and bled to death in his own driveway. And whatever was not right could be, if not corrected, then certainly reproved by people with kinder hearts, better minds and the courage to speak out for their beliefs.”

PoetryRacePoemRacismPrejudiceAfrican AmericansBlacksRace RelationsWhitesJim Crow
Book:Acolytes
Create image

“In order to have a happy ending, in order to be triumphant, in order to be heroic, you have to tell your own story. The women's movement knows that; black people know that; brown people know that; yellow people know that. You have to be able to tell your own story in order to show that you are worthy--that you belong.”

WritingEqualityStorytellingSocial MovementsMovements
Book:Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy Like My Sister Kate: Looking At The Harlem Renaissance Through Poems
Create image

“I always thought that would be really neat if black people ever got control of the United States we would, of course, tear down some of the statues because we just don't like them...like all of Richmond would probably not have a statue standing.”

AmericaUnited StatesUsaAfrican AmericansBlacksStatuesUsMonumentsSculptures
Book:Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy Like My Sister Kate: Looking At The Harlem Renaissance Through Poems
Create image

“Three days later when his body was found they wanted to bury him in Mississippi. I wanted him home in Chicago. I wanted the world to see what they did to my boy. I wanted Emmett's death to be the last death. I wanted Emmett's death to kill American innocence. I wanted Emmett's death to be not only the death of my boy but the death of innocence. I wanted Mississippi, I wanted America, to give us justice. And I prayed that I would live long enough to see it.”

ViolenceRacismMurderAfrican AmericansBlacksEmmett TillRacial ViolenceMamie Till
Book:Acolytes
Create image

“I really don't think life is about the I-could-have-beens. Life is only about the I-tried-to-do. I don't mind the failure but I can't imagine that I'd forgive myself if I didn't try.”

IfsThinkingLifeInspirationalTryingMindHas BeensI CanLife IsInspiringImagineInspirational LifeFailureForgivingAfrican AmericanImagine ThatCould Have BeenFear Of FailureOvercoming FailureAfrican American WomenFailure In LifeFailure InspirationalFear Of SuccessAfrican American LoveBlack Women InspirationalAfrican American Inspirational
Book:Sacred cows-- and other edibles
Create image