Nikki Giovanni
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Nikki (Yolande Cornelia) Giovanni has made an enormous impact on African
American literature. She uses her own experiences to write wonderful poetry. In
the poem "Nikki-Rosa," Nikki Giovanni writes the opposite about her
growing up in her family. When I first read this poem, I pictured a
poverty-stricken family living in a small apartment, much like the Younger
family in A Raisin in the Sun. Evidently, the family is poor because they have
no inside toilet and take baths in "one of those/ big tubs that folk in
chicago barbecue in" (10-11). The family is not as concerned about poverty
as they are for their love for one another, "And though you're poor it
isn't poverty that concerns you and though they fought a lot it isn't your
father's drinking that makes any difference but only that everybody is together
and you and your sister have happy birthdays and very good Christmasses"
(20-26) The poem reveals a good family does have its problems. I got the feeling
the children in the poem loved living where they lived although their parents
weren't the richest, or they didn't live in the nicest house. The children
realized that there was more to life than having a pleasant house and delightful
things. The children in the poem realize that family life is more important than
material objects. The poem "Nikki-Rosa" was written based on the life
of Nikki Giovanni...