Nikki Giovanni
Appearances
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Yeah, you have to be very careful around them. I'm not afraid of lions because lions are an intelligent being that unless you're threatening them, they're not going to bother you. But the only ostriches I've had in relation, you know, it's been unpleasant. And I'm lucky that they didn't get to me or they would have killed Thomas and my son and I on safari. You have to be careful around ostriches.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Cooking. Cooking. I love to cook. Do you? I really do. I cooked with my grandmother. And my mother could cook, but not as well as my grandmother. And I didn't cook with Mommy. I watched Mommy cook. But I cooked with Grandmother. And I would be the one. She used to be the one. I hope nobody's upset. But, you know, you'd go and get the chicken. We lived in Knoxville. In Tennessee, yeah.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Yeah, you'd go get the chicken. Chicken was, unfortunately for the chicken, alive. And so Grandmother would wring its neck. And then I would be the one to have to pluck it. And I learned to pluck the chicken. But I also learned to cook chitlins. because I learned to turn the children's intestines. I learned to turn them inside out and pull the fat out. But I also learned to break string beans.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
And when you do that, you want to pull the string out. So I love every time I'm cooking something, I'm thinking about grandmother and how she did it.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Huh. No, because it gets you caught up in your life, and that's not what you like. Your life is not about your life. Your life is about your duty.
Up First from NPR
The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
You know, it's like she's with me. It's like, you know, but I do. It always makes me happy. And I like other people's cooking sometimes. But mostly, if I have my way, I do my own.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
I don't know if I'm talking out loud so much as remembering. And you go and I made some lamb chops that I have to tell you were delicious. Incredible. And I was trying to remember what it was that grandmother did. It was grandmother. And I remembered, oh, it was she put a little cinnamon. And so I put a little cinnamon and a little apple vinegar.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Oh, God. They were so good. You know, and I didn't I don't think I said aloud to grandmother, you know, look what I've done. But, you know, it's one of those like I didn't share. I have people. You just ate it for yourself. I didn't. You didn't invite people. They should go get somebody else. If they're hungry, go to Wendy's.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Well, I am, and I almost hate to use this word because there's so many fools out there, but I am a Christian.
Up First from NPR
The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
No, because it gets you caught up in your life, and that's not what your life is. Your life is not about your life. Your life is about your duty. Hmm. And so, no, I don't think about it, you know.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Oh, I've seen a lot. I know a lot of famous people, and they're all, you know, I wonder what my stamp would look like. I'll be dead, so it doesn't matter. No, I'm serious. Someone did not say that to you. Yeah. Oh, wow. And so you just look, no, no, I'm just... glad when me and cancer wake up. And now when me and cancer and pneumonia wake up. And one day we won't. And I don't know.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Maybe I'll be sad. Maybe not. I don't know. It's interesting. My friend Toni Morrison, whom I do and still do love so very much, and my favorite Toni Morrison, among other things, is Sula. And when Sula is dying, she says, oh, wait till I tell Nell, because Nell is her best friend. And she says, wait till I tell Nell. It doesn't hurt. Wait till I tell Nell.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Oh, there are moments that I feel proud because I've worked hard. And I think the word that means, as you probably also have heard in this conversation, a lot to me is duty.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
When you look at the stars and then you think about the other life forms, you think, well, there is something else. I can't quit now. There is something else.
Up First from NPR
The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
opening of the African American Museum in D.C., you go around and around. I certainly recommend anybody doing it. And I had forgotten because a lot of those things I don't handle and I'm not interested in. I forgot we gave permission to use my poetry and we gave permission to use my, it's not something, if you start paying attention to that, you'd be crazy.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
And when I turned to the right, there was a photograph of me. And I just automatically, it brings tears to my eyes, I automatically just turn over my shoulder to my left to say, look, Grandmother, I did my duty. And it still amazes me that I did. I mean, it's like she was there. I did my duty. And that's what matters to me.
Up First from NPR
The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Well, I am, and I almost hate to use this word because there's so many fools out there, but I am a Christian. And I think Jesus is a really interesting guy. I really... and fascinated by the way he conducted his life. And I think 90% of all black women you would run into are Christians. We believe that. He may not come. There's an expression that black women have, and I share that expression.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
He may not come when you call, but he always comes on time. So we've learned to wait on the Lord. And I think that that's the most important thing. Do you pray? Oh, no. No, none of that. No, no. So how does that— I tell them, go to church.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
He's a good guy. A Christian god who you're into. Well, he's a very interesting guy. And, of course, when he did come from the tomb— There are lots of interesting guys, Nikki, but like— No, there are not. Let's face that one. But, you know, when he came out of the tomb, he went to Mary Magdalene. So the first thing he went to was a black woman. So you have to appreciate that.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
And I think that what he said to her was, you know, I've got to go. I've got things to do. But you call me. I'll be there. But just wait on the Lord. And all of the black women I know believe that. And it made sense to me. You may as well. He'll come when you call. That's why I have patience. No question about it. You know, you wait. You want the Lord to do something.
Up First from NPR
The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
But I'm not asking for, you know, lottery numbers. You know, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm not asking for, you know. Do Jesus help me win the super lotto? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, none of that. Please let me get well, you know. I don't, you know, I'm worried about this cancer. I didn't ask for any of that because that's a foolish thing to ask for. What you're asking for is let me.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Continue my life of duty with grace. And that's all. If I can gracefully do what I have to do, I'm happy. Do you think there's such a thing as heaven, Nikki? There's a heaven. And my grandmother's sitting up there. I'm going to hell because I hate my father. And I'm going to sit down and tell him why. But I'm sure grandmother and mommy will, you know, talk to Jesus or God, whoever's there.
Up First from NPR
The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
You know, let her come up and visit, you know. And everybody knows I like champagne, so I'm sure they'll have a glass of champagne. And we'll sit there and talk. Well, you got to go now. You've been here for two days. Do you actually think that? It doesn't matter what I actually think.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
What matters is what gets me through the next day.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
That's not only hard, but it's personal. And so I know what I would, but it's none of your business.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
I go there quite a bit. You do. You don't need me to take you there. I haven't been there. Well, right now I'm getting better, but I haven't been well. And so I stay in that spot right now. And yeah, it works. My old ladies come through, you know, no matter what's going on. My old ladies are I mean, I'm in the hospital to me. I love hospitals because they're grandmothers.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
You know, and they come in the morning and they say, how's my baby doing today? But it's like all of these, not all, but a couple of old ladies that I really love. And they're right there. They say, you know, you'll be all right. Don't worry about it.
Up First from NPR
The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Oh, thank you. I hope I didn't sound too crazy, but life is a good idea. And wait till you get to be 70. You're going to love it.
Up First from NPR
The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Well, first of all, it takes patience, of which I have a lot. And secondly, well, it's a good tax write-off, by the way.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
I can't believe it. You know, I used to say all the time, you know, I really liked old age. It was a good idea. But 80 really kicked my butt. And I'm hoping that 81 is a lot better. I just got out of the hospital about a week ago. I'm just old. And I was dehydrated. And I had to go to London twice. And I like London, but flying back and forth is... I know. I could have swam.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Oh. I am not, and I did. No, you know, parties are work, no matter what anybody says. But we played bid whist. I have a bid whist group. I don't know what that is.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
We're going to get letters on that one. And my dear friend, whom I love so much, Javon Jackson, came down. And Javon doesn't go anyplace without his saxophone. So he plays sax. He plays dinner sax. And so that was very nice because there was no work I didn't have to do.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Yeah, I was glad to be out of the hospital, and I was glad to be with friends. And I didn't have to get dressed. I did shower, but I didn't have to be dressed.
Up First from NPR
The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Oh, I love games. You do? Oh, sure. The Weakest Link, Jeopardy, The Wall. Okay.
Up First from NPR
The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Oh, I wish I'd made you fresh ginger cookies. I love ginger cookies. Soft kind or crispy? Soft. Soft. Always soft. Like my grandmother.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Well, I'm a baby sister, so I'm number two. I get it.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Yes, I wanted to know why Mars was red. And my obsession was that there was a war on Mars and that they had developed atomic energy so that Mars burned itself up. And as I lay in bed for most of my life, actually, to look out the window, I have seen Mars, which is why I talk about it a lot.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
And I would like to go to Mars because I think that as a black woman, my sisters and I could build a community.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
I'm a baby sister. I shared a bedroom with my big sister. She wanted the bed by the walls. I don't know why, but that gave me the bed by the window. And so I would look out the window and watch the stars. And the stars haven't changed. So you have to ask yourself, what are they telling us? What am I learning?
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Well, my parents had what I would call, in nice words, troubled marriage. And what space let me know is that this could not be the end. And thank God I did have a grandmother. And I went ultimately to live with my grandmother. But when you start to look at the stars and then you think about the other lifeforms, And you think, well, there is something else that I can't quit now.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Probably the most unusual thing about my childhood was that I recognized that my parents' marriage was not my business. Because it was unpleasant. Saturday night at 11 o'clock, I was listening to my father beat my mother. So that's unpleasant. But you also recognize it has nothing to do with you. It was none of my business. And I didn't believe Ozzie and Harriet or Father Knows Best.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
I didn't believe any of that. I still don't think that there's such a thing as a happy family.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Yeah, they're crazy. And so the best thing you can do, sometimes you need to walk away. You need to find friends and get rid of the family. Because the family drives you crazy. Just because you happen to be born. It doesn't make them kin to you. You make your own families, is what I guess I'm saying.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
I recommend dogs. But they're faithful, they're intelligent, and they always love you. You walk into the house, the dog is always happy to see you.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
I'm incredibly patient. It takes a lot to really push me. Okay. Where does that come from? Well, I don't know. I'm the baby sister of two. So that teaches you, one, you're always watching your big sister because they're always so wonderful. They're prettier. They're more intelligent. Everything. In your mind, yes. And you want to say, well, one day I'll grow up or whatever.
Up First from NPR
The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
But most of my friends are older. I have very few friends who are older. My age, I'm 81. Right.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Well, I'm hoping that Aunt Sarah, who is my mother's great aunt, and nobody liked Sarah, by the way. She was a despicable person. But she lived to be 100. So I do want that dream that lets you live to be 100. I think it'd be interesting to see what's happening at 100.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Things are going to fall apart. And so that's, again, one of the things that you can hear in my breathing. It's because of the pneumonia. Okay. Oh, and that'll go away. This will get well. But I'm not afraid of, you know, being blind. I have a friend who's losing her sight and it makes her very uncomfortable. I think it's what an opportunity to now see the world in a different way. I mean,
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Look at Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder. So you say, well, they couldn't see, but look at what they created. So obviously they saw something. And I'm not afraid. As I said, 80 kicked my butt. I mean, if it could be wrong with me, it was wrong with me. And I was thinking, okay, well, you know, I had cancer. I had lung cancer. And I had breast cancer.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
And I said, whatever happens, I don't want to read. I don't want to be sitting. Well, I'll be sitting in hell because I don't think I'm going to heaven. But I don't want to be sitting in hell. And they said she fought cancer for 20 years. I'm not fighting any disease. I'm learning to live with it. And I want the disease to live with me.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
So every morning that I wake up, me and cancer, we're in good shape. And I said, well, let's take a shower. Go about our day. Let's do our life. Yeah. And one day we won't. And then that means that I'll be transitioned. I'll be in another place.
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The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
And that's what, you know, I'm talking about my grandmother, but that's what I think about grandmother, about Sister Althea, who was my eighth grade teacher, and I loved her so much. I don't think they're not dead because they will never be forgotten for me.
Up First from NPR
The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
And I find myself, if I'm not careful, and sometimes even if I am talking to them or they're talking to me, you know, you're never alone when you have somebody like that around you.
Up First from NPR
The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Well, I'm very cautious around ostrich when I was on, you know. Nikki, what are you talking about?
Up First from NPR
The Poetic Wealth of Nikki Giovanni
Well, yeah. You ever been on safari? They are mean. No, they are mean, and that kick will kill you. Ask a lion. If you had to put a lion against an ostrich, the lion is gone. That's why you don't see lions.