Black History month commences this month, and UTM kicked it off with a virtual civil rights conference starting on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, with poet Nikki Giovanni as the first keynote speaker.
Giovanni’s speech was entitled Tennessean by Birth: Poet by Choice. Giovanni is highly decorated with over 50 awards and honors listed on her website, https://nikki-giovanni.com/. Some of these awards include seven NAACP Image Awards and being the first recipient of the Rosa Parks Women of Courage Award. Giovanni is Knoxville-born but now lives in West Virginia where she is a distinguished professor at Virginia Tech where she teaches children’s’ literature.
When asked why such a successful poet would teach something as “trivial” as children’s literature, Giovanni responded that the basis of her message was to make children’s literature not so trivial after all. In her response, Giovanni stated that she teaches her subject to keep the stories of the oppressed alive as a reminder of the strength shown in tough times.
Giovanni reiterated her desire to keep those stories alive several times throughout her speech. She spoke about Ms. Rosa Parks and her unwillingness to submit to the demands of the white man. Another main point of her message was to, “trust your voice and do what you believe in.” Giovanni is quoted saying things such as, “What you have to say is worthwhile,” and, “Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing…”
At the end of the Zoom conference, Giovanni discussed her latest book entitled Make Me Rain: Poems & Prose. She said the cover of the book—in which she is wearing a raincoat—is a tribute to the late Motown artist, Marvin Gaye. Giovanni ended the night with the recital of two poems from the book. The first poem she recited was No Pancakes Please in which she talked about the plight of the black American. The second was a love poem called Make Me Rain. Overall, this was an emotionally moving message that left you hanging on the edge of your seat. Nikki Giovanni was the first speaker of the conference. To learn more about the speakers and events happening now, go to https://www.utm.edu/departments/civilrights/.
Outstanding Miss Granddaughter!