Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni Jr. is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. Her poetry includes everything from racial and social issues to children's literature. Her contribution to the Black Arts Movement as an author was appreciated greatly and gave her the fame she deserved. Apart from winning many awards like the Langston Hughes Medal and the NAACP Image Award, she was also nominated for the Grammy's for poetry album.
She was heavily influenced by the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement and gave an African-American perspective. For this, she was also called the "Poet of the Black Revolution". To offer a platform to other African-American women authors, she co-founded the publishing company NikTom Ltd. Currently, she is working at Virginia Tech. she has worked as a professor at Queen's College.
She not only spoke about radical inequality but her advocation on gender inequality is also commendable. Giovanni is the author of numerous children's books and poetry collections. Over the course of her life, she has written numerous books, including Spin a Soft Black Song (1971), Ego-Tripping and Other Poems for Young People (1973), and Vacation Time (1980) which can connect to all ages. Nikki Giovanni's strong language and rebellious stand against white repression made her influential. Below are some of the famous Nikki Giovanni Quotes.
Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to the error that counts.
It is okay to fail in life. But to get up and try again is important. It is okay to be wrong or make a mistake as long as you accept it and are willing to correct it. Your way of damage control will decide your place on the ladder of life.
We love because it's the only true adventure.
To be in love is a special feeling only a few experiences. How much ever you struggle or go through in life, to love is a different experience altogether. It is the only true adventure. Every other experience is worthless in comparison to loving or being in love.
If you don't understand yourself you don't understand anybody else.
You are the only person who is with you all the time. You know your thoughts inside out. You are well aware of your feelings and emotions. So it is comparatively easier to know yourself than anyone else. If you are unable to get yourself, it is less likely that you will understand anyone else.
I think speeches and fruit should always be fresh.
Speeches are supposed to motivate people. People are not motivated by words that are repeated over and over again. Hence Giovanni is comparing speeches to fruits stating that both of them should be fresh.
Everything will change. The only question is growing up or decaying.
Our surroundings keep evolving. Only the fittest will survive. If you adapt to these changing environments, you will grow or there are high chances of being left out. Growing or adapting is the only option you have. If you refuse to adapt, there will always be someone to overtake you in the race
Nothing is easy to the unwilling.
If you are unwilling or not ready to do a certain task, it would appear difficult only. Since you have already given up the will to do it, you will only find reasons to avoid doing it, even going ahead to call it difficult even if it is not.
Continue reading some more Nikki Giovanni Quotes..
There're two people in the world that are not likeable: a master and a slave.
An oppressor is not a likeable person since they think they have the liberty to assert power over the weak. Also, the oppressed is someone who doesn't take a stand for themselves. So both of these people are wrong in their own way. Hence they aren't as likeable as others.
We eat up artists like there's going to be a famine at the end.
Art should be consumed slowly and meticulously. Attention to detail is very important. The artist or art shouldn't be consumed in haste without even understanding just for the sake of social pressure. It should be consumed passionately.
Art is not for the cultivated taste. It is to cultivate taste
Art is something you learn from. Someone who has already fixed their taste and is unwilling to try something new or experiment with their taste won't find art interesting. However, art is to cultivate taste in people, to find their genre.
I don't want to be near you for the thoughts we share but the words we never have to speak.
Often we make friends for the views, opinions, or thoughts we share. But true friendship lies in understanding what is not spoken. The friendship which is formed on similarity in opinions and words exchanged can be diminished when words stop exchanging or there is a physical distance between the friends. However, true friendship is not affected with distance or even if thoughts or words are not exchanged.
Life is a marvelous, transitory adventure.
Life is an adventure. The ups and downs in our life show a transition so subtle that it doesn't feel that you are on an adventure, but the adventure is in you.
The world is not a pleasant place to be without someone to hold and be held by.
We always need someone to be with us as emotional support. Everything in life can be done alone except for living life itself. To sustain in the world, you need people by your side to support them and to be supported.
Few more Nikki Giovanni Quotes...
Deal with yourself as an individual worthy of respect and make everyone else deal with you the same way.
The respect that you give others will be returned to you. Everyone should be respected as an individual despite their profession or social status. Also, never let others disrespect you as you also deserve the same respect you give.
The ability to take pride in your own work is one of the hallmarks of sanity.
Before anyone else, if we only question or doubt ourselves or our work, then people will obviously take digs at us and find faults in our works. Being confident in our work will assure everyone else the surety of our works.
The unwillingness to try is worse than any failure.
Failing is perfectly normal. Everyone fails. But not willing to even try in the first place is a sign of cowardice. When you fail, you at least learn from your mistakes. But an unwillingness to try is stopping you from taking the risk.
There are some things we do simply because the doing is a success.
Often we follow a crowd simply because the path they are on leads to success for them. We forget that that path is built for them and we have our path that we need to find. Just because that path led to success for them doesn't mean it would do the same for you.
If you know what you're talking about, or if you feel that you do, the reader will believe you.
As a writer, if you are confident in your work, your work will find a way to connect to the readers. If you do your research and have that gut instinct that you are correct, then there is no need to be paranoid unnecessarily and just go with the flow.
Some say we are responsible for those we love. Others know we are responsible for those who love us.
People say we decide who we love, which is true. But what is also true is that it is us who is responsible for people to love us. The way we present ourselves, the way we carry ourselves, and by being our honest self, we allow people to love us. Hence only we are responsible for people to love us.
I have not tried to tell the people anything. I have shared my views with the people but I have not tried to lead or correct them, assuming they need correction."
Sharing views or opinions should be done in such a way that it shouldn't offend anyone. Placing your opinion doesn't mean you need to assert or impose your views on people. This will only lead to people not hearing you out or not considering your views, however good they are. If you try to prove people wrong, they will never consider you right, even if you are.
We have a world to conquer...one person at a time...starting with ourselves.
We should be the change we wish to see in the world. It is easier to wish for greater things to happen rather than doing great things. We expect people to change our societies, forgetting the fact that we are also a part of society. So even if you have to conquer the world, before explaining the plan to everyone else, we need to understand it our self and take the first step without looking back if people are following or not.
