{"product_id":"prosaic-soul-of-nikki-giovanni","title":"Prosaic Soul of Nikki Giovanni","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom one of the most commanding, luminous voices to grace America's political and poetic landscape comes a brilliant and searing collection of essays, articles, meditations and recollections. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis omnibus edition collects celebrated poet and activist Nikki Giovanni's adult prose: \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eRacism 101, Sacred Cows and Other Edibles\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e and seven selections from \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eGemini: An Extended Autobiographical Statement on My First Twenty-Five Years of Being a Black Poet, \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003ewhich was nominated for the National Book Award in 1971.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eRacism 101 \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e(1994) contains essays that indict higher education for the inequities it perpetuates and contemplates the legacy of the 1960s. Giovanni gives searing commentary on Spike Lee and the making of \u003cem\u003eMalcolm X\u003c\/em\u003e, W.E.B. DuBois, affirmative action, President JFK and the state of urban schools. \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eRacism 101\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e adds an important chapter to the debate on American national values.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eSacred Cows and Other Edibles\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e (1988) received the Ohioana Library Award. In it Nikki's esays and articles take on the loftiness of higher education and personal major life crises.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eIn Gemini (1971), \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eGiovanni explores one of the most tumultuous periods in our history. Her essays take us from her childhood in Knoxville, Tennessee, through her work in the Black revolution of the sixties, to her emergence as an acclaimed poet. Nikki interweaves warm recollections of her personal history with incisive vignettes of cultural and political history, including her often surprising opinions of Amiri Baraka, Angela Davis, Lena Horne, Stokely Carmichael, H. Rap Brown and others.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"If there was a need for poetry that galvanized and inspired, there was also a demand for poetry that comforted and unified -- and Ms. Giovanni provided on both counts.\" -- \u003cem\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nikki Giovanni","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46329241501932,"sku":"9780060541347","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/1791\/3068\/files\/9780060541347.jpg?v=1775758555","url":"https:\/\/intl.allstora.com\/products\/prosaic-soul-of-nikki-giovanni","provider":"Allstora","version":"1.0","type":"link"}