A lifetime of passionate advocacy and poetic brilliance – San Diego Union-Tribune

Earlier this month, we lost a voice that rang out for decades with the clarity of truth and the warmth of eternal joy. Nikki Giovanni, the acclaimed poet, teacher and icon of the Black Arts movement, has died at the age of 81.

The news hit me with the force of a personal loss not just because I lost a literary giant, but because Giovanni’s words have been a constant companion in my journey to understand the fullness of black consciousness and the power of poetic expression. As I sit with this loss. , I remember how Giovanni’s work exemplified what James Baldwin called “the artist’s struggle for integrity.” A leading voice in the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 70s, her fiery and radically self-aware poetry challenged social conventions while celebrating the beauty and resilience of black life. She not only wrote about the revolution, but embodied it in every verse, in her teaching, and in every dimension of her public life.

My first encounter with Giovanni’s work was in my early high school years. Her words didn’t just speak to me; they ignited something deep within me. In “Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day,” she wrote about the sweetness that persists even in the storms of life, a metaphor that would become central to my understanding of black joy as a discipline of resilience.

Her ability to weave the personal and the political, tender and fierce, showed me that our stories can be both protest and celebration. Her work became a source of inspiration, motivating me to search for my identity as a seminarian.

For 35 years at Virginia Tech, Giovanni shaped generations of writers and thinkers, proving that the classroom could be a space of radical imagination and transformation. She understood that teaching was about imparting knowledge and awakening consciousness.

Her legacy lives on in the countless students who learned from her that poetry can be both a sword and a healing balm. While others might have been content to document our pain, she celebrated triumphs, love and ordinary moments of grace. As a cornerstone of the Black Arts Movement, she demonstrated that our resistance can be expressed through both celebration and protest.

Giovanni’s influence had a greater impact than I ever imagined in my development as a preacher-prophet. Her fearless truth informed me that authenticity isn’t just about speaking truth to power, it’s about speaking truth to ourselves.

When she wrote “Nikki-Rosa,” she wasn’t just telling her story, she was allowing us all to tell ours, to claim our narratives as worthy and beautiful. She signaled that it was okay to introduce herself in the subject line. Giovanni’s pen was never separated from the fight for justice. Her ideas about black nationalism were integral to her poetry and activist work, but she never let ideology overshadow her humanity. She taught us that militancy can coexist with tenderness, and that revolution can be fueled by love as much as by anger.

Sister Nikki’s passing leaves a void in American letters that cannot be filled, but her influence spreads outward through generations of writers, activists, proclaimers, and dreamers. Many who stood at her feet learned from her that our stories matter, that joy is a superpower, and that love is revolutionary. She showed us that black consciousness wasn’t just about understanding our oppression, it was about recognizing our greatness.

I want to believe that Nikki Giovanni wouldn’t want us to live in sadness. She wants us to create, celebrate and continue liberation through love and language. Her words remain a beacon, showing us how to turn pain into strength, find light in darkness, and make poetry out of the raw material of our lives.

In one of her final interviews, Giovanni reminded us that her dream “wasn’t to publish or even to be a writer: my dream was to discover something that no one else had thought of.” She fulfilled that dream many times over, discovering new ways to articulate the Black experience, new paths to freedom through words, and new ways to love ourselves and each other.

Farewell to our warrior poet, teacher-activist and champion of black exuberance. I pray that we will continue to write our truths, teach our children, love fiercely, and endure beautifully as she did. Nikki Giovanni showed us that poetry can be a path to liberation. Now it is our turn to walk that path, to create our own verses in the continuing story of freedom and human dignity.

Rest in strength, Sister Giovanni. Your words will forever be our revolution.

Johnson is a United Methodist minister, author of “Holding Up Your Corner: Talking About Race in Your Community” and program director for the Bridge Alliance, which hosts The Fulcrum, a news organization that published this article.