Nikki Giovanni has voice that is not afraid to speak what is on her mind. She strives to foster that same confidence in students and listeners through her educational practices and poems. Her methods and ideals are similar to ideas of revolutionizing the education system proposed by the influential educator Paulo Freire. Her powerhouse messages of encouragement and unorthodox learning have influenced the way I see the world around me.
When I think of Nikki Giovanni now I have very vivid memories, ideas, and ideas about how I view education and the world around me. However, to truly understand how influential Giovanni I need to you a story. Traumatic scenes framed by petals falling from their trees spread across millions of screens around the globe. A gory and life altering event had occurred. A tragedy that struck the hearts and cores of people’s beings. Thirty two lives lost. The chaos and suffering caused by a lone gunman. A disaster that will forever remain in the history of university campuses.
In the aftermath of the initial shooting vigils were held, tears were shed, and communities gathered together in an attempt to comfort and start the long and difficult healing process. The president visited the site to offer condolences. Guests gave speeches to attempt to lift the spirits of
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We all went to IHop. There over our pancakes and sausages someone paraphrased Nikki Giovanni’s “We are Virginia Tech” poem and we were all empathetic. From my experience people tend to not understand the relationship and power poetry can have on our lives and society as a whole. Even though I myself write poems occasionally and create paintings which I consider poetry for the eye, I find myself taking for granted the valuable service people like Nikki Giovanni provide to our society and our cultural
Even though a culture has gone through drastic time should society be ashamed or willing to embrace? Nikki Giovanni, a poet and civil rights activists, wrote the poem Ego-Tripping which was published in 1972. The poem is about how the speaker speaks on her origin showing the readers her strength and power to embrace the culture she holds which is African-American. Nikki Giovanni establishes this by making herself a goddess who holds all these accomplishments. For example, conceiving a daughter named Nefertiti meaning beautiful woman, and Nikki is proud of how confident, and powerful she has become.
The Soloist by Steve Lopez is the true story of Mr. Steve Lopez, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, and his journey to move a stranger-turned-friend off the streets and into a place where he can get the help he needs and be able to flourish as the talented musician he is. The star of the book, Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, is a 54 year old homeless musician with a mental illness. Nathaniel (or Mr. Ayers later in the book) uses music as something to ground him, to calm him down and bring him back to reality. This book brings into light various topics that most people prefer not to think about (homelessness, mental illnesses, etc.) and shows how music can aide anyone in tough times. It is common knowledge that music helps the soul.
Even though a culture has gone through drastic time should society be ashamed or willing to embrace it? Nikki Giovanni, a poet and civil rights activist, wrote the poem Ego-Tripping which was published in 1972. The poem is about how the Nikki Giovanni speaks of her origin resembling as a female god for those who admire her remarkable strength and power to embrace the culture she holds. By making herself a goddess who holds all these accomplishments, she gives African-Americans hope that success will reign in their path. For example, creating the Nile from the tears of her birth pains bringing life to Egypt.
After listening to a few of the oral history interviews and viewing photos from the events that occurred during the 1970 Kent State Shootings, I can’t begin to imagine the true effects of such an occurrence. During the past two decades, I’ve distantly witnessed, via multi-media, numerous acts of massacres on school campuses alone (elementary, high school and college) that resulted in lost lives and immense trauma for all involved. I’m sitting here trying to visualize what it may have been like for all the KS students, facility, and towns people, as well as, the members of the national guard during the weekend of May 1-4, 1970. A colleague of mine, Jane Grote describes it well as she was literally in the middle of it all.
Short-Term Impact The University was immediately shut down after three hours of the shooting. The school didn 't open until six weeks later to complete the semester. University faculties plead students to end the protest so less lives would be lost. Many colleges and universities across the United States cancelled classes for the remainder of the academic year in fear of violent protests erupting on their campuses. Long-Term
This shooting is known as the deadliest mass shooting in the United States. This act was unjust and evil due to many innocent lives were affected by being killed or injured. Originally, many had gone to a concert expecting to enjoy the musical festival together, until someone who had bad intentions changed that day. Many innocent lives were affected due to someone who had an evil act in mind. This is an unjust act because many lives and families were affected and hurt due to someone who had an evil mind by doing something so cruel
On October Third there was a mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was at a Jason Aldean concert that the shooting occurred. There were 22,000 attendees at the outdoor concert on the Vegas Strip. Almost 50 to 60 people were killed and 500+ injured. Prayers and Sympathy are pouring in from all around the world, especially Washington D.C.
The 26 Lives that Changed America On December 14th, 2012 the United States of America broadcasted the third deadliest massacre by one man alone of 26 lives. (Wikipedia) Bullets rang through the halls of Sandy Hook Elementary School that morning, murdering 20 children and 6 adults. Each child had a name, a family, and a future they never got to fulfil. During the aftermath of the Sandy Hook massacre, parents were terrified of the possibility their kid could be next.
a lot more had injuries connected to the shootings. How does one stop themselves from becoming one of the victims, this can be done through the guns on campus legislation which is going around all states and 9 states have already agreed with it. Guns on
“Because they never understand Black love is Black wealth” (Line 22), proving that although people judge about the welfare of black people, all that is needed is love and that is enough. She then ends the poem with “ I really hope no white person ever has the cause to write about me” (Line 21), which in her mind she thought you wouldn’t understand the culture and how you could be happy in that environment if you weren’t there. People usually imagine black families impoverished, upset, or angry, but with this poem she explains that she had a family that was nothing like that and her family’s love made her childhood great. Nikki Giovanni said a lot more than she wrote in this poem, by showing the flip side to what everybody thinks is a horrible lifestyle to live in. She explains that her parents had love for her, even though they had their own problems.
This article has great viewpoints, use of argumentative reasoning, and shows what truly happens in the hallways of a school shooting. The main person he explains is Eric Harris, who killed over two-thousand students and faculty in a Colorado high school in 1998. He set off bombs all over the school and used a semi-automatic
III. a. Maya Angelou was an avid writer, speaker, activist and teacher. As a result of the many hardships that she suffered while growing up as a poor black woman in the south she has used her own experiences as the subject matter of her written work. In doing this she effectively shows how she was able to overcome her personal obstacles. Her autobiography “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970) tells the story of her life and how she overcame and moved forward triumphantly in spite of her circumstances.
The Life and Works of Nikki Giovanni The ideas and subjects expressed in Nikki Giovanni’s works are a reflection of her life and times. Giovanni, born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1943, is a well-known African-American author who reached her prime in the late 1960´s and the early 1970´s. All of her writings prove her experiences as a child and young woman. ¨frequently anthologized, Giovanni’s poetry expresses strong racial pride and respect for family. Her informal style makes her work accessible to both adults and children¨ (PoetryFoundation 1).
Walking through the doctor 's office doors. I thought we came for just a normal checkup, but that 's where I was wrong. As my mother and grandma were filling out papers, I was asked how to spell something. I went to glance at the folder and I seen this sentence, “checking to see if tumor has grew.” I just read a sentence telling me my grandma is diagnosed with cancer.
The poems in this essay both talk about being a woman. “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou is about more of a confident woman while “Woman” by Nikki Giovanni is about a woman who wants a man to change for her. The poems though very different, are also similar because they both talk about confidence as a woman. By the end of both poems the narrators both know that they are women who are strong and do not need anyone else 's acceptance but their own. They know their own self worth and that is enough for them.