Giovanni, Nikki
Nikki Giovanni, second daughter of Yolande Watson and Jones “Gus” Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on June 7, 1943. Named for her mother and dubbed “Nikki” by her older sister, she grew up in Cincinnati and Knoxville. She passed away peacefully on December 9, 2024, with her life-long partner, Virginia [Ginney] Fowler, by her side. Up until the very end, Nikki maintained her kindness and grace, passion and compassion, independence and self-assurance.
As a child, Nikki’s tremendous discipline and self-determination was matched only by her proclivity for solitude. It was in these moments, and in between the stacks of her local library–which she loved–where her writerly creativity was birthed. In the sixth grade, she was taught by Sister Althea Augustine, an Episcopal nun, who recognized and nurtured Nikki’s genius; she even taught twelve-year-old Nikki how to drive. Nikki’s grandmother, Emma Louvenia Watson, was the other significant influence in her life. It was Nikki’s grandmother who took her in when Nikki decided she could no longer bear to watch the domestic violence in her home.
She attended Austin High School, where her grandfather taught Latin, until the end of her junior year when she was invited to attend Fisk University as an early entrant. During this time, Nikki edited the literary magazine and reestablished a chapter of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. After graduating from Fisk, she entered Columbia University’s MFA program and self-published her first two collections of poetry. Despite the sexism pervasive in the Black Arts Movement, which eventually compelled Giovanni to move away from it, her initial identification with its values popularized it in ways never anticipated by its founders.
During the 1970s, inspired by her experiences as an aunt, and a single mother to her newborn son, Thomas Giovanni, she began writing children’s literature, publishing several collections of poems, including Spin a Soft Black Song and Ego-Tripping and other Poems for Young People. Her gold certified album, Truth is on Its Way, featured Nikki reading her poetry juxtaposed to spirituals and gospel sung by the New York Community Choir.
Her books were perennial best sellers, published in several languages, always reflecting the universal and the intimate, the tragedy and the triumph. The common thread running through books like Bicycles, Chasing Utopia, and A Good Cry was quite naturally love: romantic, playful, familial, and cultural.
For almost six decades, Giovanni’s poems, prose, and speeches gave us an imaginative, fearless, unadulterated voice. She was poet and activist, teacher and television host, highly sought-after public speaker and Grammy-nominee. In 1987, Giovanni was recruited to teach creative writing and literature at Virginia Tech, retiring thirty-six years later as a University Distinguished Professor and beloved member of the New River Valley Community.
A proud, honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., she received hundreds of awards, prizes, and thirty-one honorary doctorates, the most recent recognition, a 2024 Emmy for the HBO documentary Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project.
Nikki Giovanni was good at many things and she was exceptionally good at love. Throughout her life, she remained a humble servant of her readers, signing every book, taking every photo. Nikki was generous with her poetry, money, and most significantly her time. She was intentional about treating everyone with kindness and dignity—not only family and fellow writers but also the clerk at the post office, the bagger at the grocery store, the custodians on campus—every person felt seen by her, and important to her.
With all her accomplishments and success, what mattered most to Nikki was quality time with the people she loved. She brought the same zeal and passion from the page and stage to the kitchen table where she displayed her mastery at the card game Bid Whist and the art of “trash talking” with opponents. Friends and family loved eating Nikki’s home-cooked meals, especially her rack of lamb and fried chicken, and cherished the handwritten notes she mailed on birthdays, special occasions or just because.
Nikki once wrote, “i know i’m bold/coming on like this/but the good things in life/are too good to be missed.” Indeed, Nikki Giovanni was a good thing in this life, and she will be missed. She spun a song so divine and ethereal, we will be listening to her legacy long after her leaving.
Ms. Giovanni is survived by her wife, Virginia Fowler, her son Thomas Giovanni, her granddaughter, Kai Giovanni, two cousins, Haynes Ford, his wife Delores, their daughter Chantel, and granddaughter Mia; Allison [Pat] Ragan, her husband Beau, their children, Zachary, Lauren and husband John Wilkerson, their children Aria and Kobe, an a nephew Christopher Black.
In her poetry book, The Women and The Men, Nikki wrote “i hope i die warmed by the life that i tried to live.” Indeed Nikki Giovanni, once called “The Princess of Black Poetry,” left this life with the warmth of a thousand suns, and a legacy that will shine in our lives eternally.
A visitation will be held on Saturday, December 14, 2024, from 5-7:00 PM in the McCoy Funeral Home.
