Giovanni

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Nikki
Giovanni

Nikki (Yolande Cornelia) Giovanni has made an enormous impact on African
American literature. She uses her own experiences to write wonderful poetry. In
the poem "Nikki-Rosa," Nikki Giovanni writes the opposite about her
growing up in her family. When I first read this poem, I pictured a
poverty-stricken family living in a small apartment, much like the Younger
family in A Raisin in the Sun. Evidently, the family is poor because they have
no inside toilet and take baths in "one of those/ big tubs that folk in
chicago barbecue in" (10-11). The family is not as concerned about poverty
as they are for their love for one another, "And though you're poor it
isn't poverty that concerns you and though they fought a lot it isn't your
father's drinking that makes any difference but only that everybody is together
and you and your sister have happy birthdays and very good Christmasses"
(20-26) The poem reveals a good family does have its problems. I got the feeling
the children in the poem loved living where they lived although their parents
weren't the richest, or they didn't live in the nicest house. The children
realized that there was more to life than having a pleasant house and delightful
things. The children in the poem realize that family life is more important than
material objects. The poem "Nikki-Rosa" was written based on the life
of Nikki Giovanni. Nikki Giovanni's childhood was very much different that the
one described in the poem. Giovanni was raised in a middle class family,
although she did learn of poverty from her parents who happened to be social
workers (Wiedemann 1500). Her childhood could be described as very happy (Great
178). Giovanni's world in her poetry is an extension of her real life. Often,
she sees herself existing among tensions. Biographers who write about Nikki
Giovanni always comment on the poverty of the family, her parent's fighting, and
note her father's alcoholism, but almost never comment on the closeness of her
family or the richness of a strong, supportive family (Wiedemann 1499). "[I]t
isn't your father's drinking that makes any difference/ but only that everybody
is together" (23-24). This line in the poem sums up very well the feeling
of family in the home of Nikki Giovanni during her childhood. The poem is not
autobiographical of Giovanni's life, but it does parallel the development of her
radical conscious (Wiedemann 1500). "Nikki-Rosa" is a typical example
of a poem by Nikki Giovanni. She writes about...

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