Tag Archives: Nikki Giovanni

Books Held to the Chest, Close to the Heart

By Robin Bates | Published: February 11, 2020

Nikki Giovanni celebrates a librarian who underwent humiliation from whites to get her the books she wanted.

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Many Ways To Stand Up to Racism

By Robin Bates | Published: August 10, 2018

I share a Nikki Giovanni poem in memory of Heather Heyer, along with those who were badly injured by angry white supremacists.

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Reading Aloud, Shared Intimacy

By Robin Bates | Published: March 15, 2017

If you want to become close to someone, read literature aloud. Doing so circumvents defenses and helps you make connections that are otherwise difficult to access.

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Listen Carefully–The Books Are Whispering

By Robin Bates | Published: May 14, 2013

I gave a talk last night to Leonardtown, Maryland’s Friends of the Library about—surprise!–“How Literature Can Change Your Life.” It was a busy day, what with writing the talk and turning in final grades and going to one last committee meeting and attending a retirement party (for which I wrote a bit of doggerel) and […]

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MLK: A Diamond Molded by Pressure

By Robin Bates | Published: January 16, 2012

Nikki Giovanni’s “In the Spirit of Martin” talks about Martin Luther King and others in the Civil Rights Movement as having been molded by the immense pressure into crystalline diamonds.

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