The Revolutionary Spirit, Rebellion and Black Consciousness in the Poetry of Nikki Giovanni

Research Abstract

Abstract The thesis sheds light on the revolutionary inclinations of Nikki Giovanni through the analysis of her works. It also proves how Giovanni is a great contributor in raising black consciousness because she is an influential voice in the Black arts movement. The researcher focuses on how Giovanni manages to stir and motivate blacks' feelings in order to restore their rights and liberate their minds from the white domination. People who grow up in a racist environment are the nucleus of revolutionaries and influential human rights activists in their societies who mirror the state of resentment and anger of the oppressed people. Therefore, Giovanni efficiently seeks to reflect the suffering of her black community discussing important issues such as race, gender, bad economic and social status, discrimination and inequality through her militant poetry in order to shake the pillars of racial society. Influenced by many assassinations of innocent activists, she also urges black people to carry their weapons in defense of their usurped rights from the white man who deliberately dehumanized and marginalized them. Furthermore, the study mentions the marginalized black women in order to empower them and participate in renaissance and advance of their black community. To conclude, the researcher attempts to demonstrate the evolvement of the cultural and political consciousness of blacks and display how Giovanni handles with these issues through her poetry in which she calls blacks to cooperate and cohere together for an uprising in streets against racist whites and manipulation of black minds.

Research Keywords

The Revolutionary Spirit, Rebellion and Black Consciousness in the Poetry of Nikki Giovanni