So.....
I went to Amherst College with my friend Judy, goddesses bless her because I forgot when this event was. I was sitting in my common lounge space and I got a call from Judy saying Nikki is here rn and without hesitating, I got my things and ran for the bus.
We arrived and found a seat near the front but not too far in the front. A few minutes later, a few other peers we knew came in and sat near us. As I waited for the event to start, I noticed the girl sitting in front of me and how beautiful she was. I began describing her:
her hair was in long twisties
and she had a scrunchy with sunflowers on it.
And her ears were kinda wide
And her jacket was olive green and puffy.
And it was glossy.
Everybody started clapping when she entered the room. Someone who worked for Amherst introduced Ms. Onawumi Jean Moss, the woman that would introduce Ms. Giovanni. I've also met Ms. Moss prior to this event and she is such a soulful woman, you could feel it in her presence, they don't call her the soulful storyteller for no reason. Anyway, she introduced Nikki and everyone clapped and used their outside voice to welcome her and she came and began to talk. They also had a sign language interpreter which I was appreciative of because inclusion is important!
I tried to pay attention more than I took notes. She began with talking about how she never met MLK but did meet Coretta Scott King. She entitled this talk: Grit, Glow and Grace, which I felt was accurate of her personality.
I don't think it was the lighting in the room, but she was glowing. And so was I, watching this unapologetic black woman be free and accept herself and her fate. She told us about her cancer diagnosis and how she spends her time (with her goldfish) and how she wants to go out: "I'm trying to go to outer space!" She says that there would be no person better than a black woman to send to outer space, especially if it concerns coming into contact with extraterrestrial life. She said when people combat this and ask: "Well what would happen if....", she responds with: "well, we already dealt with and got through that, next?!" Ruthless, I love it.
Moving forward, her poems are not what grab me the most about engaging in this event, its her, and the way she story tells with words so gracefully.
Some Nikki quotes:
"DON'T TRUST PEOPLE WHO DON'T [LIKE TO] EAT! - in response to President Trump getting McDonald for Presidential White House Dinner.
"DON"T TRUST PEOPLE [LEADERS] WHO DOGS WOULDN'T KEEP. - also in response to President Trump and dogs behaviors around him.
I watch her and how she moves, speaks to us, repeating: "I thought I should mention that" as if we were a friend sharing a small inside joke with her. I observe her: "she had gray white hair and a black sweater on with a brown vest"
When I heard that she wanted to go out into space, I wrote in my journal, NIKKI FLY AWAY. She told us to "Be Responsible" and that "Health is Meaningful".
She shared that she felt our contemporary society should turn thanksgiving into "thankstaking" because we are constantly giving but we don't know how to take love. When I asked her in the picture below about why she thought that, she said that she felt we don't know how to trust so we push the love away. She also shared that she believes that my generation confuses sex and love. I think the trust thing still applies, but maybe its more that we trust too easily and when we get hurt, we don't trust anyone, not even ourselves.
She said: "We need to be more patient." With what, I'm not sure. I hope its not in regards to asking questions because it wasn't until after the event when I thought of a better question: what were the names of her goldfish?
Thank you Nikki Giovanni!
P.S. I have this little special thing about myself where I do numerology based on the date and I wasn't expecting to be reassured that my quirkiness with numbers was in fact a real thing for black people. You just never know until you see it reflected from someone else #representationmatters
P.P.S. if you want to see more about this event and clips of the poetry she read, go here.
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