"Well, OK, it seems to always fall on me to tell the truth and, hey, I don't mind. It's not nearly as bad a job as some people think- (Giovanni, Sacred Cows and Other Edibles). Nikki Yolande Giovanni is one of America's most recent poets who gained fame as a writer during the 1060s. Nikki Giovanni, better known as the "poet of the people" wrote in hopes of influencing the Civil Rights Movement and the women's movement. Later on in her writing career, her areas of writing spread to politics and children's books, allowing a greater audience to relate to what she had to say. Her African-American heritage has greatly influenced her writing, leading her to be one of the most widely read poets of today. She was not an author who wrote to entertain, but rather an author who wanted her voice to be heard. .
Before Nikki's birth, Nikki's family had to flee their home in Albany, Georgia to Knoxville, Tennessee in order to flee persecution by whites because of something her grandmother had said. She went to school in a segregated school for girls. Nikki played small roles in the Civil Rights Movement by doing small things as marching with other blacks to protest a recent hate crime. In Knoxville, she read signs and noticed other carious examples of segregation in her community. After her teacher, Miss Delaney, showed her the path towards a writing career, Nikki decided that she would write in order to help the Civil Rights Movement. .
As she grew as a writer, she was influenced greatly by the many happenings of the Civil Rights Movement, such as Rosa Park's actions on the bus. Other people, such as Martin Luther King Jr. impacted her life so much, that she wrote about him. Mr. King's ways gave rise to black pride for many and clubs were started, one of which Nikki joined. When he passed away, she went to write a poem dedicated to him called The Funeral of Martin Luther King Jr., one of the poems inside Black Feeling, Black Talk, Black Judgment.
