Nikki Giovanni: The Poet Literature of the Black Community

Abstract

Black women have a long history and practise of activism that can be traced to pre-colonial Africa. Women writers of African descents have challenged the status quo of the cultural, political, and spiritual realms of their communities by using their skills to present women who challenge traditional roles and resist attacks of oppression. The paper deals with the suffering of women in general and black women specifically. The aim of the study is to give a voice to black women through Nikki Giovanni’s poetry, whom is considered the poets’ laureate. Her poems are like weapons against the oppressors. Using a cross-cultural analysis, will give voice to women who had long been silenced and devalued; women who, according to Zora Neale Hurston, "have the status of a mule".