In the 1960s, Nikki Giovanni was a revolutionary poet of the Black Arts Movement that nourished civil rights. She had a famous dialogue with James Baldwin in Paris in 1971. As a professor at Virginia Tech, she brought beauty and courage by the way of poetry after the shooting there. Today, she is a self-proclaimed space freak and a delighted elder — an adored voice to hip-hop artists and the new forms of social change this generation is creating. (Original Air Date: March 17, 2016)

About the Guest:
Nikki Giovanni is a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech. She has written and edited numerous books of poetry and works for children, including “Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea,” “Black Feeling, Black Talk/Black Judgement,” and “The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni.” Her latest work is “Chasing Utopia: A Hybrid.”

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