65+ Nikki Giovanni Quotes From The Poet And Activist
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The famous poet Yolande Cornelia Nikki Giovanni Jr, popularly known as Nikki Giovanni, is also a writer, educator, commentator, and activist.
She initially gained fame as a key member of the Black Arts Movement. Nikki Giovanni also famously earned a Grammy Award nomination for 'The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection'.
As a strong and talented woman, Nikki Giovanni has inspired millions of people. Nikki Giovanni quotes on truth are truly inspiring and Nikki Giovanni political quotes motivate everyone to stand their ground and fight for what they think is right. Find out more in this list of amazing Nikki Giovanni quotes from the famous poet.
For more inspiring quotes, you can check out these Warsan Shire quotes and Rupi Kaur quotes too.
The Best Nikki Giovanni Quotes
Nikki Giovanni poems are loved by people all over the world. Check out this list of the best Nikki Giovanni quotes, including Nikki Giovanni quotes on daughters and Nikki Giovanni love quotes.
1. "You can't be ideologically driven if you're going to be a writer, and that's always going to lead to problems with other people who think that they should tell you what to do."
- Nikki Giovanni.
2. "Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to the error that counts."
- Nikki Giovanni.
3. "I am trying to learn
How to cry."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'A Good Cry'.
4. "Poems have serious business to do
They need to bring down presidents who
Start wars they themselves wouldn't go to."
- Nikki Giovanni.
5. "It's hard to save 'em
If they won't learn how to pray
Give 'em the blues
And make 'em weep all day."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'Acolytes: Poems'.
6. "Poems don't have to rhyme... Poems are about beauty and emotion; in other words, poems are about feelings."
- Nikki Giovanni.
7. "I want to be clear about this. If you wrote from experience, you'd get maybe one book, maybe three poems. Writers write from empathy."
- Nikki Giovanni.
8. "Educational progress is a national concern; education is a private one."
- Nikki Giovanni.
9. "We are gathered in awe of the people who stood on the auction block… clearing land they could not claim… growing crops they could not share… being shamed by powerlessness."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'Acolytes: Poems'.
10. "We black women are the single group in the West intact. And anybody can see we're pretty shaky. We are, however (all praises), the only group that derives its identity from itself."
- Nikki Giovanni.
11. "History is wonderful. We have so much we can learn if we would quit making ideology out of history, and just deal with what happened."
- Nikki Giovanni.
12. "Then autumn sneaks up on us... I watch the trees wrap around themselves... the flowers fold back into the seeds... all the little animals find places to sleep for the coming winter."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'A Good Cry'.
Famous Nikki Giovanni Quotes
Here's a list of popular Nikki Giovanni quotations and poems.
13. "I think all art is political, so it's up to us to be truthful, and wherever that truth leads you is what the political realization is."
- Nikki Giovanni.
14. "We write because we believe the human spirit cannot be tamed and should not be trained."
- Nikki Giovanni.
15. "They're two people in the world that are not likeable: a master and a slave."
- Nikki Giovanni.
16. "Howl, Baby
Pull the moon
Down and squeeze 'til there's no
More pain."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'Acolytes: Poems'.
17. "But Spring blooms everything... greens and reds... and lots of babies... I have to be very careful backing out of my garage not to hurt kittens or squirrels who have only recently been born."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'A Good Cry'.
18. "Show me someone not full of herself and I'll show you a hungry person."
- Nikki Giovanni.
19. "I cannot be comprehended
except by my permission."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'Ego-Tripping'.
20. "Poets can tell the truth as they see it. It's the author's story, the author's voice."
- Nikki Giovanni.
21. "Your biographers never understand
Your father's pain as he sells his stock
And another dream goes."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'Nikki-Rosa'.
22. "We are less lonely when we connect. Art is connection."
- Nikki Giovanni.
23. "We flow bitter tears..."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'A Good Cry'.
Interesting Nikki Giovanni Quotes
Listed below are some Nikki Giovanni quotes that you should not miss.
24. "You can do all you want with a soul; it's a magnificent water."
- Nikki Giovanni.
25. "I had no idea Grandmother had to beg
A white man to let me
Enroll in Austin High."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'A Good Cry'.
26. "If I could come back as anything - I'd be a bird, first, but definitely the command key is my second choice."
- Nikki Giovanni.
27. "We in the Black Arts Movement, which wasn't really a movement but a group of people who had similar objectives."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'Chasing Utopia: A Hybrid'.
28. "And I really hope no white person ever has cause
To write about me
Because they never understand."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'Nikki-Rosa'.
29. "And like an unfaithful mate, once a car has let you down you never sort of trust it again."
- Nikki Giovanni
30. "... you cry out and sometimes it hits someone else and you cry out and finally you realize no matter who it hits it's you who is being hit and you cry out.
But no one answers back."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'Acolytes: Poems'.
31. "Everybody keep running around saying things like 'we want to be safe'. From what? The craziest thing in the world is us."
- Nikki Giovanni.
32. "It is not who you attend school with but who controls the school you attend."
- Nikki Giovanni.
33. "Style has a profound meaning to Black Americans. If we can't drive, we will invent walks and the world will envy the dexterity of our feet."
- Nikki Giovanni.
34. "There are sad-eyed people looking
Up from beds they
Cannot stretch out In."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'A Good Cry'.
Motivational Nikki Giovanni Quotes
Nikki Giovanni quotes on writing and Nikki Giovanni imagination quotes can inspire aspiring writers. These motivational Nikki Giovanni quotes might make you want to change for good.
35. "You cannot be worried about who does and who doesn't like what you do because there's always somebody's not going to like. If nobody doesn't like it, there's something wrong with it."
- Nikki Giovanni.
36. "Deal with yourself as an individual, worthy of respect, and make everyone else deal with you the same way."
- Nikki Giovanni.
37. "I really don't think life is about the I-could-have-been. Life is only about the I-tried-to-do. I don't mind the failure but I can't imagine that I'd forgive myself if I didn't try."
- Nikki Giovanni.
38. "Embrace the change, no matter what it is; once you do, you can learn about the new world you're in and take advantage of it."
- Nikki Giovanni.
39. "You must invent your own games and teach us old ones how to play."
- Nikki Giovanni.
40. "There is no such thing as writer's block. There is only not enough information. If you can't write, learn something."
- Nikki Giovanni.
41. "Tell the truth, my good sister
Don't stop just because it hurts
Tell the truth and let the cooling waters
Let the tears Fall down."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'Acolytes: Poems'.
42. "Follow your image as far as you can no matter how useless you think it is. Push yourself."
- Nikki Giovanni.
43. "Visibility - You've got to find a way to make people know you're there."
- Nikki Giovanni.
44. "If you don't understand yourself, you don't understand anybody else."
- Nikki Giovanni.
Positive Nikki Giovanni Quotes
Check out these positive Nikki Giovanni quotes.
45. "The first person who reads you is you."
- Nikki Giovanni.
46. "Some say we are responsible for those we love. Others know we are responsible for those who love us."
- Nikki Giovanni.
47. "Every time any voice is lifted in song the Spirit Rises and the rising spirit carries the halt and the lame carries the hurt and the helpless carries the scared and the downtrodden teaches everyone to raise your spirit by raising your voice so."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'Acolytes: Poems'.
48. "We love because it's the only true adventure."
- Nikki Giovanni.
49. "We must invest in tomorrow. And pay our teachers for teaching as we pay our coaches for coaching."
- Nikki Giovanni.
50. "I love you because no two snowflakes are alike, and it is possible, if you stand tippy-toe, to walk between the raindrops."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'Resignations'.
51. "We will take what we have to make what we need. We need confidence in our knowledge of who we are."
- Nikki Giovanni.
52. "You are forever
Young Gifted and Black..."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'Acolytes: Poems'.
Great Nikki Giovanni Quotes
Listed below are some of the greatest quotes by Nikki Giovanni, including some political quotes.
53. "Sometimes you read a poem just because they make you want to."
- Nikki Giovanni.
54. "Some people are simply unwilling to learn under any circumstances, which may be, even then, wouldn't be so bad if they weren't so damned proud of it."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'Sacred Cows - And Other Edibles'.
55. "A white face goes with a white mind. Occasionally a black face goes with a white mind. Very seldom a white face will have a black mind."
- Nikki Giovanni.
56. "It's not that my life
Has been a lie
But that I repressed
My tears."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'A Good Cry'.
57. "Poetry is the most mistaught subject in any school because we teach poetry by form and not by content."
- Nikki Giovanni.
58. "She knows who she is, because she knows who she isn't."
- Nikki Giovanni.
59. "And we will wear them
Never knowing
Whose loved one
We have Embraced."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'A Good Cry'.
60. "I'm an old storyteller. I tell the story. It's about the story."
- Nikki Giovanni.
61. "... they'll probably talk about my hard childhood and never understand that all the while I was quite happy."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'Nikki-Rosa'.
62. "Violence is like money in the bank; it's only helpful if you don't have to use it."
- Nikki Giovanni.
63. "We gather in celebration of those who utilized the Underground Railroad… those who rode it and those who helped others get on board."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'Acolytes: Poems'.
64. "I would put books on par with chocolate, because a good book is delicious."
- Nikki Giovanni.
65. "We always teach
The youngsters
Don't cry it will be
All right
But crying cleanses."
- Nikki Giovanni, 'A Good Cry'.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Nikki Giovanni quotes then why not take a look at these Sylvia Plath quotes or Nikita Gill quotes too?
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With a Bachelor's in Microbiology from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Oluwatosin has honed his skills as an SEO content writer, editor, and growth manager. He has written articles, conducted extensive research, and optimized content for search engines. His expertise extends to leading link-building efforts and revising onboarding strategies.
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