By Brett Weinstein - Flickr: Nikki Giovanni, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12911418
Knoxville, Tennessee native Nikki Giovanni, poet, civil rights legend, and educator who empowered generations with her fearless words and unwavering advocacy for Black America died on Dec. 9 at the age of 81 after her third cancer diagnosis.
“The acclaimed poet, Black Arts Movement icon whose poems of wit, wonder, and wisdom were celebrated in children’s books, on keynote stages and television shows, and in more than two dozen bestselling poetry collections, died peacefully on December 9, 2024, with her life-long partner, Virginia [Ginney] Fowler, by her side,” said friend and author Renee Watson in a statement.
In 2023, Knoxville’s Beck Cultural Exchange Center unveiled an exhibit dedicated to Giovanni, featuring her complete book collection and personal memorabilia. The center, a cherished space for Giovanni, was a must-visit whenever she returned to her hometown.
“Nikki was a gift to the world, generously sharing her talents with everyone around her,” said Rev. Reneé Kesler, President of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center. She loved deeply and expressed that love in countless ways.”
Yolande Cornelia “Nikki” Giovanni was born on June 7, 1943, in the “Negro Wing” of Knoxville General Hospital to parents Yolande Cornelia Sr. and Jones “Gus” Giovanni. She graduated from Austin High School in 1961.
She enrolled at the historically Black Fisk University in Nashville in1960. At Fisk, she joined the Writer’s Workshop, a space that fostered her creativity and connected her with other aspiring Black writers who later went on to become prominent Black literary figures such as Dudley Randall, Margaret Walker, and Amiri Baraka.
“At Fisk, she found her voice — a voice that would go on to inspire the world to dream with courage, to fight with purpose, and to love without constraint. Through her poetry, she wove stories of Black resilience, beauty and liberationHer spirit is forever etched into the soul at Fisk, an eternal light guiding us toward justice, creativity, and authenticity,” Fisk officials said in a statement.
Giovanni rose to prominence during the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, publishing her first poetry collection Black Feeling, Black Talk in 1970. Her poetry embodied the spirit of the civil rights struggle, celebrating Black identity and perseverance. She was also known for her bold commentary on racial and social issues, earning her a reputation as one of the foremost voices of her generation.
She taught for 35 years in the English Department at Virginia Tech. Giovanni received numerous accolades and recognitions throughout her career, including the Langston Hughes Medal and multiple NAACP Image Awards. In 2004, she earned a Grammy nomination for her spoken-word album, The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection. Oprah Winfrey also honored her as one of her 25 “Living Legends.” Most recently, she was honored with a 2024 Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking for Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project.
Roots in Tennessee, heart in Knoxville
Giovanni’s ties to the city of Knoxville and East Tennessee were central to her Appalachian identity. She paid homage to both in a number of her literary works where she often spoke of her childhood.
In 2022, Giovanni appeared on CNN’s United Shades of America at the historic Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tennessee where she shared stories of her Appalachian roots and affinity for cooking pigs feet and chitlins’.
In Giovanni’s poem “Knoxville,Tennessee”, she penned a love story reminiscing on the days she spent sunny summers growing up visiting her grandparents.
Giovanni often reminisced about the Gem Theatre, the primary movie theatre for Black patrons in her youth. Though it no longer stands, she captured its memory in her poem “400 Mulvaney Street,” recalling how, for just 10 cents, you could spend an entire day enjoying a double feature, five cartoons, two serials, and previews for upcoming films.
“Mulvaney Street looked like a camel’s back with both humps bulging — up and down — and we lived in the down part,” Nikki Giovanni wrote in her acclaimed essay “400 Mulvaney Street, where her parents’ house stood.
She also wrote with affection about the Smoky Mountains, located just beyond Knoxville. “The Smokies are so called because the clouds hang low,” she shared. “We used to camp in them. The bears would come into camp, but if you didn’t feed them, they would go away. It’s still a fact.” The mountains held a special place in her heart, serving as a refuge for family trips with her grandmother after her grandfather’s death—just as her grandparents had once brought her there as a child.
In her 2022 children’s book, “A Library,” she describes the former segregated Carnegie Library in East Knoxville not merely as a place to return books but a place to “be free.”
“My favorite place, of course after my grandmother’s house, was the library. It sat right at the top of Mulvaney. We went to the Carnegie Library every Sunday after church at Mt. Zion Baptist up on the hill. Those were wonderful memories. The Lawson McGhee Library was the white library uptown. So this was ours. Before they came and destroyed everything, of course. There was the Gem Theatre we went to and the drug store, we really had a community, but then they came in and said no we need it and it changed everything,” said Giovanni.
“I write a lot about Knoxville because Knoxville is my heart,” Giovanni said in 2019 during the dedication of a historical marker in her honor outside Knoxville’s Cal Johnson Recreation Center, a tribute to her childhood on Mulvaney Street.
The house at 400 Mulvaney St. was demolished during Knoxville’s urban renewal projects that decimated Black neighborhoods and businesses in the city.
In 2023, Giovanni gave fierce words to Black Knoxvillians, reminding them to fight for their neighborhoods to avoid another urban renewal catastrophe as new developments go up in the inner city.
“We need leaders in Knoxville who are going to say we aren’t going to let you come in here and just do what you want to do or take what you want to take. You’ve got to fight back,” she said.
Just before her 80th birthday, Nikki Giovanni reflected on why Knoxville remained close to her heart many decades after moving to her home near Blacksburg Virginia. She said “Because I love it. It’s where I always felt safe, welcomed and loved. Knoxville is where I became who I am. The lessons I learned there—about love, resistance, and resilience—have stayed with me every day of my life.”
Despite the challenges of segregation and racism in the 1950s and 1960s, Giovanni said Knoxville’s tight-knit community was formative in shaping her understanding of justice and equality.
In spite of her numerous accolades and lifetime achievements, Giovanni said she wasn’t a legend, merely wanting to be remembered for her art.
“I’m not a legend. I don’t even know what legacies mean. I’m just a poet. I just hope that people will read my poetry,” she said. “When I write, I try to always be as honest as I can no matter what anyone has to say about it. I’m not God, I just do the best I can, and I’m gentle with myself. I hope that’s enough.”
A forthcoming book of poetry, The Last Book, will be published in fall 2025.
Giovanni is survived by her wife, Virginia Fowler, her son Thomas Giovanni, her granddaughter, Kai Giovanni, two cousins, Haynes Ford and Allison [Pat] Ragan, and a nephew Christopher Black.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and X.