How Old Is Nikki Giovanni? Nikki Giovanni Birthday
Nikki Giovanni was born on June 7, 1943 and is 80 years old now.
Birthday: June 7, 1943
How Old - Age: 80
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Nikki Giovanni - Biography
Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Nikki Giovanni prides herself in being "a Black American, a daughter, a mother, a professor of English." One of Americas most read poets, Nikki Giovanni has written over two dozen books, which include volumes of poetry, children`s books and collected essays.
A CD of her poetry was a contender for the Grammy Award in the spoken word category in 2003.Nikki Giovanni has received over 20 honorary doctorates and has been named "Woman of the Year" by Ebony, Mademoiselle and Ladies Home Journal. Additional honors include the Langston Hughes award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts and Letters in 1996 and the NAACP Image Award for Literature in 1998, 2000 and 2003. Nikki Giovanni is currently a professor of English and Gloria D. Smith Professor of Black Studies at v*rginia Tech, where she has been a member of faculty since 1987.
Giovanni's poetry reaches more readership through her active engagement with live audiences. She gave her first public reading at the New York City jazz spot, Birdland. Her public expression of “oppression, anger, and solidarity” as well as her political activism allow her to reach more than just the poetic circles. After the birth of her son in 1969, Giovanni recorded several of her poems with a musical backdrop of jazz and gospel. She began to travel all around the world and speak and read to a wider audience. Even though Giovanni's earlier works were known to carry a militant, revolutionary tone, Giovanni communicated "a global sense of solidarity amongst oppressed peoples in the world" in her travels.
It is in this sense of human unity in which Giovanni aligns herself with the beliefs of Martin Luther King, Jr. Like King, Giovanni believes a unified, collective government must be made up of the everyday, ordinary citizen, regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender. In the 1970s and '80s her popularity as a speaker increased even more. In 1972 Giovanni interviewed Muhammad Ali on Soul!
