Nikki Giovanni is, in her own words, “a Black American, a daughter, a mother, a professor of English.” She has published 30 books, received 25 honorary degrees and was honored as the first recipient of the Rosa L. Parks Award for Courage and the Langston Hughes Medal for Poetry.

She came to Union on Thursday, May 3 to share her story, poetry and activism.

Nikki Giovanni read and contextualized four of her poems: “Heritage,” “Big Maybelle,” “I Married My Mother” and “Ego Tripping.” The first three are in her new book, “A Good Cry.” She discussed the inspirations and motivations behind each poem.

Giovanni wrote “Heritage” after visiting her friend in a hospital after he had a stroke. “Whatever used to be it still is. We shouldn’t call it dying. I don’t like dying. We should call it a  transition,”Giovanni said. The next poem she shared, “Big Maybelle,” describes a trip to Kentucky to hear the blues. She concluded this poem by talking about African American culture and music, saying, “if it says traditional, we stole it from the negroes.”

Giovanni then began describing her family, beginning by describing getting a phone call from her mother to tell her that her abusive father had a stroke.

She wondered why her mother had called, knowing full well that Nikki “Didn’t give a damn.”

She proceeded to purchase her own house and take care of her father on her own terms, until her passed.

Giovanni then lived with her mother for 30 more years until her mother, too, passed.

She encapsulated this portion of her life with the poem “I Married My Mother.”

Her talk concluded with a reading of the poem “Ego Trippin’”, which she prefaced with a discussion of her religion, how some people who called themselves Christian made her sick and a comparison of Trump to Barrabas.

After her reading, the discussion concluded with a standing ovation and a few questions.

When answering a question on whether or not poetry could change the world, Giovanni responded that 50 years ago she would have without a doubt said yes, but as a 74 year old woman, her view has since changed.

“I don’t know if I can change the world… all you can do is not be a part of what you don’t want to be a part of,” Giovanni said.

She also spent time talking about the world and a wide range of her beliefs.

She started her talk by saying, “It was so wonderful Bill Cosby was found guilty… we can now get that hooligan in the White House out.”

Giovanni went into depth about her beliefs on the Second Amendment, her opinion of the people of Appalachia for their role in the American Civil War and the role of West Africa in the slave trade.

When asked about her vision of the 21 century.

She also spoke about the role of West Africa had in the slave trade.

Additionally, Union College and President Ainlay were awarded at the talk the 2017 Higher Education Insight into Diversity Award, which is prestigious award granted by INSIGHT into Diversity Magazine.

This award was presented to Union for running events and fully embracing the value

of diversity at the collegiate level.

Union was the only school in New York to receive the award this year and the only small liberal arts school to receive the award five years in a row.