Cincinnatians will honor the late Nikki Giovanni Saturday. The acclaimed poet grew up in Lincoln Heights and became a leading figure in the Black Arts and Civil Rights movements of the 1960s.
The City of Cincinnati, Jazz Alive, Learning Through Art, and the Taft Museum of Art鈥檚 Duncanson Program will present a special tribute honoring Giovanni and her legacy. The public event is scheduled for Saturday, March 29, from 1-3:30 p.m. at Corinthian Baptist Church.
Sly Little will host the event, which will include musical performances, readings, and a proclamation from the city of Cincinnati.
Local artists also will recreate Giovanni's landmark 1971 album, "Truth Is on Its Way," by performing a mix of traditional gospel spirituals and contemporary poetry from that recording.
The lineup of artists and speakers includes:
- Jason Holmes 鈥� Associate Director of Choruses and Director of the Youth Chorus, May Festival
- Camille Jones 鈥� Elementz, Creative Futures program manager
- Adoria Maxberry 鈥� Founder, Most OutGROWing LLC
- Baba Charles Miller 鈥� Percussionist and arts education advocate
- Phil DeGreg Trio 鈥� Esteemed jazz ensemble
- Annie Ruth 鈥� Acclaimed artist, poet, and arts educator
- Kareem A. Simpson 鈥� Duncanson Program manager, Taft Museum of Art
- Kathy Wade 鈥� Emmy-winning jazz vocalist and arts advocate
- Dr. H. James Williams 鈥� President, Mount St. Joseph University
Giovanni and her works gathered international acclaim, but she never forgot the Queen City.
In 2006, Giovanni read a work called "I Am Cincinnati" during the rededication of the Tyler Davidson Fountain Downtown. The piece ruffled feathers 鈥� it called a gubernatorial candidate at the time an expletive 鈥� but it also expressed nearly boundless hope for the city even as it referenced police shootings of Black residents and racism.
Nikki Giovanni died Dec. 9 at age 81 of complications related to cancer and is buried in Cincinnati's Spring Grove Cemetery.
The 'Princess of Black Poetry'
Giovanni's writings in the 1960s quickly cemented her as a leading figure in the Black Arts and Civil Rights movements. She wrote about racial equality and advocated for gender equality. With dozens of poetry collections under her belt, she was working on getting her last book of poetry out when she died. It's still set to come out next year, titled 鈥淭HE LAST BOOK.鈥�
Born Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, Jr. in Tennessee in 1943, Giovanni moved with her family to Ohio around the age of four. Her older sister nicknamed her Nikki. The family settled first in Wyoming, then moved next door to Lincoln Heights during its early days as one of the first municipalities founded by Black residents. She recalled her youth there to fellow author Kathy Y. Wilson in
"We bought a home in Lincoln Heights on Jackson Street, and we moved there for a long time, and then we bought a house on Congress Street," she told Wilson. "Lincoln Heights to me was a lovely place. When I was growing up it was a working-class community. I went to St. Simon's, and I walked to school every day, which I liked. We had Neal's Grocery Store 鈥� he was a veteran 鈥� when we lived on Jackson Street."
Her early works focused heavily on Black liberation, the Civil Rights movement and related themes. She grew in stature as the 1970s progressed, with national television interviews with figures like James Baldwin and Muhammad Ali, the landmark album "Truth is on its Way" and high-profile poetry readings and lecture appearances to her credit.
As she became more well known, her work shifted to focus on themes of love, family and Black joy.
Giovanni served as a University Distinguished Professor in the English Department at Virginia Tech. Giovanni, was an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and earned hundreds of awards and honors.
In 1986, she became the Taft Museum's first Duncanson Artist-in-Residence.
WVXU's Nick Swartsell contributed to this report.
