#nikkigiovanni
Track No. 21 for March 21st from my Netlabel Day Radio 2024 takeover:
I'll never get tired of sharing the link for the brief but impactful collection of poetry and cultural observations from Nikki Giovanni at Clark College. It's been a few months since her passing and I miss her speaking truth to power in real time. Keep the work of the dreamers, the disrupters, and the dissenters nearby, now more than ever.
Mask up Lesbians and genderqueers: it's the weekend.
https://dzr.page.link/9W1CNMjG8od23Zmv7
This absolute BANGER came on again in shuffle during the week, and I've been mainlining on it since then. What a poem by Nikki Giovanni, and what a TUNE.
Saturday
#JavonJackson Quartet The acclaimed tenor #saxophonist and his band celebrate the legacy of the late, great American poet #NikkiGiovanni They’ll be performing Hollywood-associated numbers from the Great American Songbook, as featured on Jackson’s second collaborative recording with Giovanni, 2024’s “Javon And Nikki Go to the Movies.” March 22, 7 p.m. $48.05-$64.85. Scullers.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DHYqO21gFG-/
scullersjazz.com - its not on the site calendar but...
#jazz #saxophone #TenorSax #BostonMusic #BostonWeekend 9/x
"Werewolf Avoidance by Nikki Giovanni
I've never "blogged" before so this is new territory for me I do poet though and that is always somewhere in the netherland I think poetry is employed by truth I think our job is to tell the truth as we see it don't you just hate a namby-pamby poem that goes all over the place saying nothing
Poets should be strong in our emotions and our words that might make us difficult to live with but I do believe easier to love Poet is garlic Not for everyone but for those who take it never get caught by werewolves"
— Nikki Giovanni: Chasing Utopia, p. 80
"A Robin's Poem by Nikki Giovanni
if you plant grain you get fields of flour if you plant seeds you get grass or babies i planted once and a robin red breast flew in my window but a tom cat wouldn't let it stay"
— Nikki Giovanni: The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni, p. 119
Powerful truths from #LonnieBunch and #NikkiGiovanni #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackHistory #History
“His headstone said
FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST
But death is a slave's freedom
We seek the freedom of free men
And the construction of a world
Where Martin Luther King could have lived and
preached non-violence”
― #nikkigiovanni
#blackhistorymonth
"The Funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Nikki Giovanni
His headstone said FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST But death is a slave's freedom We seek the freedom of free men And the construction of a world Where Martin Luther King could have lived and preached non-violence."
— Nikki Giovanni: The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni, p. 51
"Sometimes by Nikki Giovanni
sometimes when i wake up in the morning and see all the faces i just can't breathe"
— Nikki Giovanni: The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni, p. 132
#BlackMastodon #BlackTwitter who were your favorite thought leaders of 2024?
My favorites were:
#MarcLamontHill
#RuhaBenjamin
#DrAutumnBlackdeer
#HelianaRamirez
#SandraHinojosaLudwig
Also didn't want to forget to include our late ancestor #NikkiGiovanni who was a true gem both as a public intellectual and as a person
When I Accidentally #Outed #NikkiGiovanni
As a #fan of Giovanni, I admired her #brilliance and #activism. But a #misstep caused #backlash—labeling her an “#out #lesbian.” This incident highlights the need to respect #privacy and avoid #assumptions.
— Giovanni never publicly #identified as #LGBTQ+, though her work inspired #queer #communities.
#Women #Lesbians #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #HigherEducation #Outing #Allies #Representation #Culture #RoleModels #BlackMastodon
"sometimes after midnight or just before
the dawn
we sit typewriter in hand
pulling loneliness around us..."
My latest newsletter is about poetry and the passing of the great Nikki Giovanni.
A Poet's Necessity: https://thorncoyle.kit.com/posts/a-poet-s-necessity
Thanks so much for reading.
Nikki Giovanni:
Just a NY Poem
https://nikkigiovannimh.bandcamp.com/track/just-a-ny-poem
https://open.spotify.com/track/7MCSTub37HRsnGzXDTMM6J
show playlist 
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2cVwGPN1WK78W1iCP1qIWH
KEXP playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6VNALrOa3gWbk794YuIrwg
