Nikki Giovanni, the poet, author, educator and public speaker who went from borrowing money to releasing her first book to spending decades as a literary celebrity, has died. She was 81.
According to a statement from a friend, Giovanni, died Monday with her lifelong partner, Virginia Fowler, by her side. Jonathan “JP Da Poet” Peterson, a spoken word artist living in Montgomery recalls meeting the “Princess of Black Poetry. Poetry collections such as “Black Judgement” and “Black Feeling Black Talk” sold thousands of copies.
In poetry, prose and the spoken word, she told her story, championing the Black Power movement and paying tribute to heroes like Nina Simone and Angela Davis.
