All language subtitles for Going.to.Mars.The.Nikki.Giovanni.Project.2023.720p.WEB.h264-EDITH

I don't
remember a lot of things.

But a lot of things
that I don't remember,

I don't choose to remember.

I remember
what's important

and I make up the rest.

That's what
storytelling's all about.

Stand by.

If you're right,
then what you're saying...

is you're a forerunner

of what many times happens.
So, you're sort of a prophet.

I would hate to think of
myself as being a prophet.

Prophets die.

They always... The
prophets and saints...

But don't we
all?

Oh, but they do it sooner.

What I'm trying to
do with my writing

is to bring out a reality.

I'm what they call
a personal poet.

And I try to bring out the
personality of my life.

You know? That my family
was a good family.

You know, because
they're Black people

and Black people
are good people.

And from that goodness, we
can create the revolution.

So that the revolution isn't
a reaction to Whiteness,

but a forward
thrust of Blackness.

Before we leave, will
you do one more time?

Oh, I'd be glad to.

This is "Nikki-Rosa."
It's about us.

"Childhood remembrances

are always a drag
if you're Black.

And if you become
famous or something,

they never talk about
how happy you were

to have your mother
all to yourself.

And even though you remember,

your biographers
never understand

your father's pain as
he sells his stock.

And another dream goes.
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 Christmases.

And I really hope no White
person ever has cause

to write about me because
they never understand

Black love is Black wealth.

And they'll probably talk
about my hard childhood

and never understand
that all the while

I was quite happy."

Right on.

I'm very
proud of my okra.

I planted it from seed.

And so there's just something
nice about putting seed

in the ground and...
this... It looks good.

See? It's growing.

I was born in
Knoxville, Tennessee,

but I am an earthling.

I'm a big
fan of Black women.

'Cause in our blood
is space travel.

Because we've
come from a known,

through an unknown,
to an unknown.

And that's all that
space travel is.

If anybody can find what
there is in this darkness,

it's Black women.

- Thank you so much.
- Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Here in the Apollo Theater,

our card-carrying members...

of the Nikki Giovanni fan club.

So, Nikki, say something about

the role of friends...

- in your life.
- You know, I'm not friendly.

- And...
- That's why

I asked the question.

- I'm not friendly.
- You're the last person

you would think.

I'm fortunate, you
know, that I'm polite,

but I'm not friendly.

I know, Nikki,

you don't just think of
yourself as yourself.

You sure write in
a collective sense.

- You write for all of us.
- But, Johnnetta...

I honestly think that the most
important word to me is duty.

Let's...
let's hear it.

I just think there
are things you have to do.

When all, for lack
of a better word,

the shit hits the fan,
you're still gonna stand up

- and do the right thing.
- Mm-hmm.

Our people have. The
history of our people

is a great history.

And it's our duty
to tell that story.

My great
grandfather was a slave.

My grandfather attended
Fisk University.

He wanted to be a Latin scholar,
was a Latin scholar, in fact.

It's just that he
couldn't find a job,

because nobody was hiring
Black men to be Latin scholars

at that particular point,

but he was a
dreamer is my point.

And his dream was not realizable

because of a number
of situations.

So he became a Latin teacher
in a local high school

and he did very well.

He took care of his wife
and his three children.

My mother had me.
I'm also a dreamer.

But I don't understand why
my dreams can't come true.

So, I will continue to do

what my grandfather could
not do. I will fight.

- Mm-hmm.
- I'm a fighter.

And my son should
not have to fight

the same battles that I fought.

I'm a native Tennessean,
I was born there.

During the
age of segregation

when you couldn't go to
the same amusement park

or the same movie theater,
when the White guys

would cruise up and down the
street and call out to you,

when the Black guys were
afraid of being lynched.

But we went to
Church each Sunday

and we sang a precious song,

and we found a way
not to survive,

anything can survive,

but to thrive and
believe and hope.

I'm a native Tennessean,
I was born there,

but I was only two months
old when my mother and father

moved my sister and
me to Cincinnati,

where neighborhoods
were redlined,

but at least Mommy
could get a job teaching

and Daddy could get a job
behind a desk. And after all,

if you are a college graduate,
that's the least you can expect.

My father
got a scholarship

to Knoxville College
where my mother lived.

They fell in love.

The yearbook had a
picture of my mother.

And it says, "When you
see her, you surely must

at the same time think of Gus."

It was a
stormy relationship

at various points, but
we know that deprivation

gives us stormy relationships.

So, what
are we looking for?

We're trying to
get to Jackson Street.

We're trying
to get to...

- Lincoln Heights? Okay.
- Lincoln Heights.

This is Pendry. Go down Pendry.

- Left or right?
- Left.

I shared a
bedroom with my sister,

and my bed was by the window.

When you start to look
at things that have been

changed so much,

I mean, it's very hard...
I couldn't begin as I say.

If this is what it appears
to me, this is asphalt.

And so, it's a piece of asphalt.

If that's the case,
the house was there.

'Cause it wasn't a big house.

When you have parents who...

have difficulties as a kid,
what you have to do is, uh...

you have to have an imagination,

and you have to step out
of their relationship

and figure out what you want.

I know crying is a skill.

I automatically wipe my eyes

even though I know
crying is a skill.

Maybe I will learn.
My mother did

when she thought I was asleep.
I think my sister did sleep,

but sleeping is difficult
to me as crying.

I laugh easily and I smile,
and withhold any true feelings.

Your
book is wonderful.

Oh, thank you. You
want me to sit closer?

Okay. Yeah.

You're comfortable the
way you're sitting?

I'm just gonna
label these for you.

"Maybe I should
be happy I found

my mother in someone
else who loves me."

"What else really matters?"

That's our guest Nikki Giovanni

reading from her poem
"I Married My Mother."

Where to begin?

Well, let's begin
with the crying part.

You're not a crier?

You're smiling at me as
I ask you this question.

I grew up because my father...

And I'm trying to
understand more,

but my father was cruel.

And it seemed like
my mother needed,

I don't know,
protection or something.

"Who was there? Who looked?

Where was the camera
that Saturday night?

My father hit my mother so hard

she literally flew
across the living room

and fell against the windowpane

like a rag doll.

I watched. I
watched over Mommy.

I hear her say,
'Please don't hit me, '

but he does.

She says to me,

'What goes on in our
house, stays in our house.'

Who saw what I heard?

Who knows how to
make sense of it?

And we want to save the world?

What about my mother?
I am a witness.

I don't need an overseas
enemy. I have my father.

And the band played on."

Did you see him as the enemy?

I went to live with
Grandmother shortly after...

after that, because
it was...

well, I shouldn't say this
on the radio, I guess,

but it was clear that either
I was going to kill him

or I had to move, and so...

I decided to move. But
the funny thing was,

you know, Grandmother
and I never discussed it,

but I know that Grandmother knew

that her daughter was
in trouble. I know that.

I don't understand
how on one hand

you say you're talking
about, like, a Black man.

That he can be
nothing in the streets

and so fearful in his home.

That he can be brutalized by
some White person somewhere,

and then come home and treat...

You know, I mean,
me, my mother...

- It's got to...
- the same way

that he was being treated.

Which perpetuates... I mean,
you take somebody like me

- I'm not married, right?
- Yes, but Nikki...

I couldn't
play my mother.

- Yes, I know.
- You know what I mean?

I just couldn't deal
with it. I said no.

But, Nikki, it's also true
that since your mother

played that role,
you haven't got to.

You say mistreated, or
I say mistreated, no.

But in the per... In the mind
of the person who is doing it,

he's not mistreating you.

No, I'm not
dealing with that.

Let's say, in the mind of,
let's say, your father,

who is just an example,
or the mind of my father.

You know what I mean?
He is being mistreated.

I'm not gonna deal
with the cracker

that's mistreating him.
I'm gonna deal with him.

He knows that he is
not being treated

with the respect due him as
a person, as a Black man.

Okay? In order to,
like, get that together

when he comes into that house,

he begins to, like, brutalize
my mother, for example.

You see what I mean?

Which becomes like
a phenomenon to me,

because I don't
like White people

and I'm afraid of
Black men, right?

If you can follow
what I'm saying,

without anybody writing a
letter and saying "Sister,"

you know what I mean?
Okay, so what do you do?

Listen, you have
to, I think what you have...

It's a cycle.

And that's unfortunate
because I need love.

The one thing
that I did know

is whatever life would be, I
knew I had to create myself.

So, I wrote a
poem, "Nikki-Rosa."

Childhood remembrances
are always a drag,

but I also knew it could
not determine who I was.

So I'm gonna write a line

that says, "And
though we were poor,

it's not poverty
that concerned me."

What did it
feel like to wake up at 11?

Well, you want something
that I'm obviously,

clearly not ever gonna give you

or anybody else, so you
can find another question.

I don't know
how else to say that.

But I was not asleep.

And I knew that it was Saturday,
so I knew what to expect.

But...

You're wanting me to go

to someplace that
I'm not gonna go

because it'll make me unhappy.

And I refuse to be
unhappy about something

I can do nothing about.

So, I selected happiness

and I put that which
was unhappy away.

I chose not to grieve.

"I
brush my teeth, I smile,

but there is always this frown.

I think I'll run
away with the ants

and live on Mars."

That thing is
com... Christmas is coming.

And I like Christmas okay,

but I really hate Rudolph
the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Don't you?

And it's like, "Whoa,
what is wrong with you?"

And all of the other reindeers
would laugh and call him names.

What the hell is that?

And...

No.

I wanna know where
was Mr. Santa Claus

and Mrs. Santa Claus?

They saw what was
going on with Rudolph.

Why didn't some of them come
out and get that corrected?

But the minute they
needed something, right?

One foggy Christmas Eve,
then Santa's there, you know,

"Hey, Rudolph, we need you."

Rudolph should have
told him to kiss...

Rudolph...

He should
have.

Some of us in this room
are in some ways different.

And I just wanted to say,
you know, remember Rudolph

and that Rudolph should
have cursed him out,

because you don't have any
reason to be sucking up

under them dumbass reindeer

who are talking about you.

Because anybody that
has any talent in this room

is lonely.

Whether you can sing,

whether you can
shoot a basketball,

whether you can play foo...

I don't care what
it is you can...

If you've got a talent...

you're lonely.

And so what you wanna do
is go on with your life.

Because at some point
you're gonna find somebody

who is lonely as you are.

And then you will
build your community.

So just come
on up and take a mic.

Would you ever
say that some of your poems

were inspired by stress or hate?

Were
you ever bullied

by your skin color
when you were younger?

What would
you say your life was like

whenever you just
felt depressed?

If you
could describe yourself

in three words,
what would it be?

I'm okay.

I like myself,
you know, I mean...

I'm very fortunate

that I just don't care
what people think about me.

And I'm just incredibly
fortunate about that.

Have you
ever had like a breakdown,

or you couldn't take it anymore,
where you just can't do it?

Have you ever had a breakdown?
Where you just couldn't take it?

You gotta love
people that said,

"I don't care what it is, I'm
gonna find a way to smile."

And I know that there
are people that try

to laugh at those Negros,
that try to laugh...

"Oh, they didn't know
what they were doing."

They knew that they
had to stay sane

and that they had to love.

I think Black people
are wonderful.

They're great people.

And I think it's time
that we recognize that.

That's the way I
look at the history.

But I'm just a
poet, nobody listened to me.

That's the truth.

But that's why the new
book is called A Good Cry,

because I'm learning to
let it go. I don't...

I don't have to be
strong or brave.

I don't have to...

I don't have to do
anything for anybody.

I educated my son,
I paid for my house,

my car is paid for.

I can live my life as
I fucking well please.

So if I wanna cry, I can
do that too.

VIRGINIA "GINNEY"
FOWLER: All right.

Shame on you.

- Jealous dog.
- Tell Zena.

I will. Stay!

- Cleo.
- Stay.

Cleo...

Get over here.

Hey,
Nikki. How are you doing?

I'm
fine, Tom. How are you?

I'm great. It's
great to hear your voice.

Well, I was calling
because I've been doing

some research on "Encore."

Because I'm thinking about
possibly doing something

about the magazine...

- Oh.
- And its impact,

but I'm trying to speak to
all the contributors also.

Right now, Tom, and I'm
not... I hate to say this,

because it always sounds
like I don't care.

But I've had a seizure
and I know who I am.

Though they gave me a
bracelet and I wear it,

and it says who Nikki is,
just in case I get lost.

But a lot of things
I don't remember.

I remember the magazine

and it was wonderful,
and I think it was good.

- So I don't know...
- Okay. Okay.

That I'm gonna be
all that helpful.

Oh, I think
you would be great.

I mean as much as you
can contribute with, uh,

- would mean a great deal to me.
- Well...

But I understand
your health situation.

- So I really do understand that.
- Well...

I don't want you to
think I'm being insensitive...

No, no, no.

And not understand.

And if there's anything
I can help you with,

you know, don't
hesitate to let me know.

Thank you so much
for giving me a call back.

Well, you take care and tell
all your folks I said hello.

- I will. Take care. Bye.
- Okey-doke, bye-bye.

A seizure is a seizure.

I'm only gonna
come back so much.

You have to recognize...
Well, there's a limit

to what you can do.

"This is what I think.

I have been blessed
with a poor memory."

"I have forgotten
crazy night sweats.

I have forgotten crying.

I don't remember my anger

at witnessing the face
of Emmett Till..."

"nor my fear

when four little girls
were murdered one Sunday."

What murdered these...

four girls?

Look around.

You will see that many people
that you never thought about

participated...

in this evil act.

Modern Civil
Rights Movement

was started by the murder

of a young man
named Emmett Till.

Ten weeks after

Emmett Till's body in
August was discovered

Rosa Parks said, "No."

And I wrote a poem for her.

And I wanted to
find a way to start it

the way I thought it started.

So actually in dealing
with Mrs. Parks,

I started, of course,
with the Pullman porters.

Because America would be an
extremely different place

without the Pullman porters.

"This is for the
Pullman porters who helped

Thurgood Marshall go
South and come back North

to fight the fight
that resulted in

Brown v. Board of Education.

This is for the Pullman porters
who smiled as if they were happy

and laughed like
they were tickled

when some folks were around.

This is for the Pullman
porters who smiled and welcomed

a 14-year-old boy onto
their train in 1955.

They noticed his slight limp
that he tried to disguise

with a doo-wop walk.

They noticed his stutter
and probably understood

why his mother wanted
him out of Chicago

during the summer
when school was out.

Fourteen-year-old Black
boys with limps and stutters

are apt to try to prove
themselves in dangerous ways

when mothers aren't
around to look after them.

So this is for the
Pullman porters

who looked over that 14-year-old

while the train rolled the
reverse of Blues Highway.

From Chicago to St. Louis,
to Memphis, to Mississippi.

This is for the men
who kept him safe.

And if Emmett Till had been able
to stay on that train all summer

he would have maybe
grown a bit of a paunch,

certainly lost his hair,
probably have worn bifocals,

and bounced his
grandchildren on his knee.

Telling them about his
summer riding the rails.

But he had to get
off that train.

And ended up in
Money, Mississippi.

And was horribly,
brutally, inexcusably,

and unacceptably murdered."

"This is for the
Pullman porters who,

when the sheriff was trying to
get that body secretly buried,

got Emmet's body on
the northbound train.

Got his body home to Chicago

where his mother said,
'I want the world to see

what they did to my boy.'

And this is for all
the mothers who cried.

And this is for all the people
who said, 'Never again.'

And it was Mrs. Rosa Parks who
could not stand that death.

And in not being
able to stand it,

she sat back down."

"The women gather

because it is not
unusual to seek comfort

in our hours of stress.

It is not unusual that
the old bury the young.

Though it is an abomination.

It is not strange
that the unwise

and the ungentle carry
the banner of humaneness

though it is a
castration of the spirit.

The women gathered with
cloth and ointments,

their busy hands bowing
to laws that decree.

Willows shall stand
swaying but unbroken

against even the
determined wind of death."

My pretty girl...

Hey!

I like that. So, how are you?

- Doing good. How are you?
- Good.

- I'm hanging in there.
- How's Ginney doing?

She's doing pretty
good. She's not with me, um...

Actually, Ginney's not
the problem right now

I'm pretty much the
problem right now.

So, we're not, you know,
doing a big deal with it,

but I'm having
surgery on the 21st.

- What's happening?
- Oh...

- Do you wanna not talk about it?
- No, I mean, it's not a big...

I'm not gonna announce
it, but you know, uh...

Uh, it probably is a cancer,

but it's a... You know,
like, what do you call it?

A breast... You know,
a thing in the breast.

So, she's just
gonna take it out.

- Why take a chance?
- Why take a chance.

Yeah, and
having had lung cancer,

you know, they took
the left lung out.

So, you don't wanna, you know...

Dr. Abrams's like,

"Oh, you know, you'll be able
to go home the same night."

I said, "Sweetie,
this is my tit.

If it was your tit, maybe
you go home the same night.

My tit, I'm going to stay."

I see my granddaughter.

Hey!

- Hey. Well, looky here. Ah!
- Hey.

- How are you?
- Good.

Good. How did she
get to be this tall?

She's
almost your height.

When are we gonna get
those folks to let you come down

so you can learn how to play
bid whist and fry some chicken?

I haven't seen you since

- Las Vegas.
- Yeah.

No. We saw... One
time when we had dinner.

Remember? You came by.
We had dinner one time.

- But yeah. It's been a while.
- I've had a...

- It's been a long time.
- It has.

It really has, yeah!

I wanna say a couple of
things before I forget

'cause my mind's not good.

Well, it's not, and I
have to recognize that.

And I don't mean
to embarrass him

or anything, but it's a pleasure

that my son has joined me
this evening, Thomas Giovanni.

And my very lovely
granddaughter, Kai.

Yay.

The book is A Good
Cry and I learned to cry.

And probably the only
person in this room

that understands that is Thomas,

'cause I don't think Thomas
has ever seen me cry,

because I always made
a point of not to.

Some of the folks may know,
some of them may not know,

that you have "dreams" of
going to outer space...

is the wrong word. You
have an imperative.

Tell them why.

Well, you know, so again,
I hate to say it, but...

No, I don't hate to say
it, but we're Black women.

If this... coming
to this country...

wasn't
an alien situation,

being forced to have
sex with aliens,

having to learn...

We did.

They were screwing us
and what we did was,

whatever they put in
us, we... we held it,

and then we birthed it,

and then we named
it, and we loved it.

Why wouldn't we do that in Mars?

Why wouldn't we do
that in Jupiter?

Why wouldn't... why
wouldn't that same energy,

that same love,
that brought us here

and helped us to make this
a potentially great place,

why wouldn't that same
energy work? Of course.

When they
came to these shores,

they maintained
a humane quality.

And it's been a phenomenon.

These people decided to
fight a war with a song.

They decided to
fight a cultural war.

With love.

When we go to
Mars, it's the same thing.

It's Middle Passage. When
the rocket red glares,

the astronauts will be
able to see themselves

pull away from Earth.
As the ship goes deeper,

they will see a sparkle of blue.

And then one day, not only
will they not see Earth,

they won't know
which way to look.

And that's why NASA needs
to call Black America.

They need to ask us, "How
did you calm your fears?"

"How were you able to
decide you were human

even when everything
said you were not?"

"How did you find the comfort
in the face of the improbable?

To make the world you
came to, your world?"

"How was your soul
able to look back and wonder?"

The first thing
that's gonna happen

in Middle Passage,
is the spiritual.

Because it's gonna give us
the spirit to go forward.

It's gonna be that...

We didn't have any language
that was universal.

So the only thing that's
gonna be universal,

the only thing that can be
spoken is gonna be music.

And who's going to
communicate with them?

Who's gonna say,

"Somehow we're gonna
make it through."

Has to be a woman.

'Cause it was your grandmother.
When things went wrong,

it was your grandmother that
said, "It'll be all right."

It's
often true, I think,

that there is one
person in a family

who gets it, who
understands that this child

is a little different,
but she's a writer.

And it's my understanding
that your grandmother

was that person in
your family for you.

Yeah, can we talk a little
bit about your grandmother?

Yeah.

And we got tissues,
so you can cry

all you want to. It's okay.

You know, I still remember
grandmother's phone number.

It's 3-1-5-9-3.

Um...

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

I just don't... I don't know
where we'd be without...

without the
grandmothers, period.

Not just mine, one of the...

You know, you're not
that much younger,

but you'd look at Civil Rights
just a smidgen different.

But one of the things

that definitely happened
to people my age

is that we had choices.

We could tell our
grandmothers we can't do it.

- Mm-hmm.
- Or we could change the world.

It was way easier

to change the world.

It was.

The new Rich's

opening Monday, August
29 in Knoxville.

And I never liked
to picket, you know.

I mean, some people got
really high off of picketing.

All of that stuff scared
the crap out of me.

But the day that the kids
were bombed in Birmingham.

Right? And that was a Sunday.

'Cause in a way, the
Birmingham bombing was war.

And all of the old women...
that's when adults were adults...

all of the old women
and men went to churches

all over Knoxville,

and they were trying
to decide what to do

and they decided to picket.

And once you came in the house,

Grandmother had
one of those looks.

And she said "Nikki"
and I thought, "Uh-huh."

I recognized the tone.

She said, "Nikki, we decided
we're going to picket."

And I said, "Yes, Grandmother."
'Cause that was the answer.

Then she said,

"And they called for
volunteers," and I said...

"...Yes, Grandmother."

She said, "And I told
them John Brown and I..."

'Cause that's my grandfather.
"John Brown and I were too old,

but my granddaughter was here."

I did mention, I said,
"Does Mommy know"

you're trying to get me killed?"

But she gave me a hug

and thought I was kidding.

♪ Go, go, go
Go, go, go Bulldogs ♪

♪ Go, go, go Go,
go, go Bulldogs ♪

♪ Go, go, go Go,
go, go Bulldogs ♪

♪ Go, go, go Go,
go, go Bulldogs ♪

I went to Fisk.

I was there with John
Lewis and Diane Nash.

We sat in, in Nashville.

I asked a waitress
for a hamburger and a Coke.

I said, "I'm sorry,
our management

does not allow us to
serve niggers in here."

In the winter
and early spring of 1960,

the efforts of Nashville's
Negro college students

had led to the integration
of lunch counters

at six department
and variety stores.

But they were still
excluded from eating

at the city's downtown drug
stores and restaurants,

train depot, and the bus stop...

You enrolled twice.

The first time you were
expelled after a run-in

with the conservative
dean of women.

Your grandmother was
very much in your corner,

but Fisk didn't really care

about anybody being
in your corner

and they asked you to leave.

I wasn't really good at
taking a lot of stuff.

I think I had a lot of anger.

Dean Cheatham and
I had different visions

of what a lady is, and
what a woman should do.

But I also
realized, you know,

all of my strengths
are here up, right?

It's all in my head,

so that means I have
to go back to school.

Could I have enrolled at
University of Cincinnati

or something? Sure.

But if I'm having
a failure at Fisk,

then I need to go back to Fisk.

So I borrowed a friend's
car and drove down

and wanted to meet
the dean of women.

'Cause I figured if I couldn't
get along with the dean,

I'm not gonna make
it the second time.

So that's gonna be a waste.

How important was John
O Killens's workshop

to you at that moment?

John Killens had

the first Black Arts
Festival at Fisk.

And we had LeRoi Jones,
he was LeRoi Jones then.

That's when he was,

"Up against the
wall, motherfucker.

This is a stickup," you know?
I mean we just adored him.

Negro Digest sent
David Lawrence down.

David asked everybody
to write something.

That was my first
experience in publishing,

and I was just very lucky.

I'm basically
a city girl.

I went to New York,
I think I was 22,

23 years old, I don't...

I don't actually
remember right now.

I guess just '67,
whatever that amounts to.

One of things I wanted to
do, of course, was write.

And in writing,
one of the skills

that I wanted to take to
the New York experience

was small-town skills.

And this is like, this
is when Nikki was crazy.

My mother's a jazz fan

and I wanted to do
something for Mommy.

New York is, you know,

none of the clubs
are open on Sunday.

So, I went to Birdland.

There's a guy
there, Harold Logan.

I went down
and introduced myself

and had my book and
I said I'd like to,

you know, have a book
party on a Sunday

since you're closed anyway.

His position was,
"What do I get?"

Because he's a businessman
and he's a thug.

And I said, "Well...

what do you need?"

Because I didn't have any...
I didn't have any money.

You know, it didn't
matter. What do you need?

And he said, "Okay, Giovanni."
Giovanni, like that.

He said, "Okay, Giovanni,
bring me a hundred people.

And the club is free.

Ninety-nine people and
you'll have to pay me."

I said, "That's fair enough."

'Cause I think I can get
100 people to do anything.

My friend, Morgan Freeman,

he was my next-door
neighbor. Morgan read for me.

Novella Nelson read for me.

A bunch of people, you know.
So it was gonna be fun.

But Birdland sits,

or at that point,
it sat almost...

What do you... Catty-cornered
to the New York Times.

So people started coming
early because it was free.

And then, the line

went out, and then the
line turned a corner.

And by that time

New York Times is
looking down and seeing

predominantly Black
people lined up.

So they went... they
sent a reporter down

to see what's going on.

And finally, the reporter
came up and said,

"I'm looking for Nick Giovanni.
Do you know where he is?"

And I... "I'm Nick Giovanni."

You know.
"You're looking for me."

"No, no, I'm looking
for Nick Giovanni."

"I'm Nikki Gio..." You know,

it just took him a
minute to realize.

And he said, "What is this?"

And the answer was, "Black
Judgement is coming."

If you see a first edition
of that book, it's beautiful.

But I said, well,

who's gonna publish
my poetry, right?

Nobody. So I called
my grandmother

and I asked a few other people

to give me a loan and I
had the book published.

I had 1,000 copies of it. So
you have to sell it, right?

And I sent five copies
here, five copies there,

asked the people to sell it.

They sold and, you know,
you get these little checks

for three dollars, you know?

"Walking
down Fifth Avenue

in my bell-bottoms
and Earth shoes,

smoking a cigarette

because I didn't know the
dangers of lung cancer,

nor the pleasures of wine.

There was a bookstore
on this corner

and that corner.

Life was difficult for a
Black girl with no money,

who only had a dream of
talent measured by truth.

But passing those bookstores
with a confident smoke,

there was possibility.
Always the possibility."

I was
lecturing the other day

down in this same cellar,

and a gang of little
Black boys came in.

They held up their fists.

Talking about Black
power. I said, "Look, son,

I'd like to straighten you
out. "I said, " Black...

is beautiful, but
Black isn't power.

Knowledge is power."

The day that
Mr. Michaux said,

"Giovanni, you have a minute?"

Because, you know,
underneath he had that cellar

and he had the
coffee from Ghana,

and when he asked
me if I could stay,

and have the coffee with you,

I thought, "Oh shit,
I'm important."

Where were
you on April 4th, 1968?

I don't know.

I know what it was. You
know, Martin was killed.

I just don't know where I
was. I don't know. I'm sorry.

But how did
that day affect you?

I'm sure it's a good
question, but I'm not...

I've already answered and I...

I can't take it any further.

I don't know what else to
say about it. I'm sorry.

I really am.

"What
can I, a poor Black woman,

do to destroy America?

This is a question with
appropriate variations

being asked in
every Black heart.

There is one answer.

I can kill.

There is one compromise. I
can protect those who kill.

There is one cop-out. I can
encourage others to kill.

There are no other ways.

The assassination of
Martin Luther King

is an act of war.

And some honky asked
about the reaction.

What do you people want?

Isn't it enough
that you killed him?

You wanna tell me how to mourn?

You want to determine
how, I, a lover,

should respond to the
death of my beloved?

May he rest in peace.

May his blood choke the life
of ten hundred million Whites.

May the warriors in the streets
go ever forth into the stores

for guns and TVs, for
whatever makes them happy."

I think
the country made a mistake

when they killed Dr. King.

Would've been far better

if they killed Rap
Brown or myself.

Because then they could
say to Black people

that, uh, we're preaching
guns and he who preaches...

who lives by the sword,
will die by the sword.

But they couldn't do
that for Dr. King,

because he preached love.

And there is no possible
way for them to...

to make an excuse of
Dr. King's killing.

So, when they killed Dr. King,
they just opened up the eyes

of a lot of Black people.

"When I was a teenager,

I used to sit on
front porch steps

conversing the gym teacher's
son with embryonic eyes

about the essential
essence of the universe,

recognizing the basic
powerlessness of me.

But then I went to college

where I learned that just
because everything I was

was unreal,

I could be real.

And not just real
through withdrawal

and through emotional crosshairs

or colored-bourgeois
intellectual pretensions,

but from involvement with
things approaching reality.

I could possibly have a life.

So catatonic emotions

and time-wasting sex
games were replaced

with functioning commitments
to logic and necessity.

For a while, progress was made

along with a certain
degree of happiness.

'Cause I wrote a book
and found a love,

and organized a theater
and even gave some lessons,

some lectures on Black
history, and began to believe

all good people
could get together

and win without bloodshed.

Then Hammarskjöld was killed,
and Lumumba was killed,

and Diem was killed,
and Kennedy was killed,

and Malcolm was killed,
and Evers was killed.

And Schwerner, Chaney,
and Goodman were killed,

and King was killed,
and Kennedy was killed.

And sometimes I wonder why
I didn't become a debutante

sitting on doctors' porches,
going to church all the time,

wondering, 'is my eye
makeup on straight?'

Or a withdrawn, discoursing
on the stars and the moon.

Instead of a for
real Black person

who must now feel
and inflict pain."

But sweetheart...

What you're saying is
very, very serious.

I'm not in the least denying it,
'cause you're perfectly right.

I'm not being a missionary

trying to save America.

But I do know that...
I do know that...

we have paid too much for
it to be able to abandon it.

We can never abandon it.

I don't think that
that's a question,

because where else
are we gonna go?

I mean, nobody else wants us.

- But in any case...
- That's the truth.

In any case, my father
and my father's father

has paid too much for it.

I've paid too much for it.

- I'm only 28.
- Yes, yes.

'Cause, like, I
deserve, you know,

to do whatever I
wanna do with it.

- Mm-hmm.
- You know, whatever that means.

Well, I... personally,
I'm just not interested

in many things that
people are interested in.

I'm not interested in the
president or a Congress.

Because it's still somebody
trying to run my life.

I'm not interested in
movements and ideologies.

I just don't give a damn.

For the first two
years I was in New York,

I was just taking
care of myself.

But then after I had Thomas,
I had responsibilities, right?

And I didn't have a job
and didn't want a job,

wasn't looking for a job,

which meant that I
had to earn a living

from my poetry. I
had to buy diapers,

and for the first
time in my life,

I had to buy food for somebody.

I'd be on the road, uh...

I don't know, 48
weeks out of 52?

And so Thomas, of
course, is nomadic.

I mean, I'm sure to
some degree he felt like

life was more on an airplane

than anyplace else
'cause I took him with me

until he was able
to go to school.

"My son is so lucky.

I had him educated, vaccinated,
and gave him swimming lessons.

He is unhappy.

He doesn't know that's love."

I have a son.

So I think I have some
insight into young men.

It is a sad thing sometimes
to be a Black man.

I rode off to colleges
for applications.

I did my little mother thing

so that he would know
what's available.

I took him around to
colleges and everything.

But he still did
wanna go to Paris,

because he said he
wanted to find himself.

I have to laugh at my son

because I'm always
under the impression

you cannot find something
where you didn't lose it.

We were
sitting around talking

and I said, you know, "Have
you thought about college?"

"Well, I'm not ready."

I said, "Tell you what, I
have a counter offer here.

How about you go to the army,
or you get out of my life?"

So...

It worked very well.
He went to the army.

I'm very proud of him.

I am. He's soldier of
the week or something,

I get letters from his
commanding officer.

It's been fun. It's been great.

Because my son grew up
with a bunch of women

and some of you all did.

And I'm like probably
any other parent.

You know, he likes
his milk glass

chilled in the morning.
So I would, you know,

wake up in the morning

and put his milk
glass in the freezer,

so that it would be
nice and cold for him.

He went to the army, not
only was the glass not cold,

the milk wasn't. You know?

And that was a wonderful
thing, because my son realized

that everybody doesn't have
somebody who loves them.

Some of you don't
know that even yet.

Some of you think the
world is out there

and it's supposed to love you.

The world doesn't
really care very much.

Some of the world is hostile.

But, mostly, the world
doesn't give a damn.

And it's very hard
to get that across

to those of us
who are young men,

because you actually
get disappointed.

You know, your heart is hurt

that somebody isn't
being nice to you

or kind to you.

Reality says you're
gonna have to buck up.

Not since Kobe, no
matter what the day is.

Oh, that's right.

Nikki and her
son were estranged

for a number of years.

The last couple of
years, they began to...

get back together and...

she's crazy about having
this granddaughter,

who she's really gotten to know
only in the last year or two.

And she and her son are...

having a friendship again.

And that's good, 'cause
now we're old and...

who knows how long
anybody will live.

You look
like Grandmother.

I look like Grandmother?

- Mm-hmm.
- No, is that...

No, you make... She used
to make the same face

- kinda sitting around.
- Really?

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Can you take a
photo of me and Kai?

If you don't mind.

This look okay to you?

- Yes.
- My face look okay?

Very nice.

Tell us about
the title of your book.

I'm sorry?

The
title of your book.

Make Me Rain?

Yeah, and how
did you come up with that?

Actually, having Kai here,
that's why I wanted a picture.

If I'm rain, she's the blossom.

As you get older, which,

I'm the oldest person
here, of course,

one of the things you know

is that you wanna
leave something.

And the only way
to leave something

is to transition it.

And so rain is what
makes that possible.

And smile.

- Big smile...
- Yeah!

Don't
worry about those teeth.

Perfect.

Pearl always says
I didn't babysit her

because I'm not that
much older than she is.

But what she forgets

is that the difference
between 20 and 12,

is... it changes.

When you're 20 and 28, right?

And when you get to
be 40 and 48, right?

It gets erased.

You're actually now
older than I am.

Because...

Right?

Because she's a
grandmother and I'm not.

And grandmothers...

I could go out into the street
and get my head beat, right?

Or I could babysit

and be doing revolutionary duty.

This was a no-brainer.

So...

Detroit was the center.

And Reverend Cleage was
very, very important.

Everybody
knows police brutality exists.

For police officers
to take our time,

to waste the time
of an entire nation,

talking about they never
heard of police brutality,

they don't know
what Black people

are talking about,

they can't prove it.
We know in Detroit,

any time a Black person is
brutalized by the police,

he goes into court
and he's arrested

for assault and battery.

Now, the basic
issue is so simple,

and nobody will even touch it,

because you're
afraid to touch it.

You are deliberately
trying to evade the issue.

Everybody...

And Reverend Cleage knew
that he couldn't leave his kids.

Couldn't leave 'em alone.

And so he needed somebody
to stay with the kids.

I'd laugh, but it's true.

I said, "I'll stay.
I'll stay with 'em."

And, of course, you're
gonna turn the lights out

because everybody knew
where Reverend Cleage

and Mrs. Cleage lived.
And everybody knew...

how to go in and
shoot them. And so,

one of the things that Al,
his name was Al, that Al knew

was that I was not gonna
let his kids get killed.

During those days, of course,
everybody, you know, had a gun.

So, uh, you just prepare to...

to take care of the people
you're supposed to take care of.

I say violence is necessary.

Violence is a part
of America's culture.

It is as American as cherry pie.

It's not us that's
preaching violence.

It's not us that's
dealing violence.

It's us that are being
subjected to violence.

"Nigger, can you kill?

Can you kill?

Can a nigger kill a honky?

Can a nigger kill the man?

Can you kill, nigger, huh?

Do you know how to draw
blood? Can you poison?

Can you kill?

Can you run a Protestant
down with your '68 El Dorado?

Can you kill?

Can you piss on a blonde
head? Can you cut it off?

Can you kill the nigger in you?

A nigger can die.

We ain't got to
prove we can die.

We got to prove we can kill.

We killed in Vietnam for them.

We kill for UN and
NATO, and SEATO and US,

and everywhere for all
alphabet but Black.

Can we learn to kill
White for Black?

Learn to kill, niggers.
Learn to be Black men."

I like football.

And when I watch the
young men, I watch Colin,

and then we watch the others,
and they're takin' a knee.

Any man that gets on his knee,

we know that's an act of love.

We know
that. We know that.

They are on their knee,

and they're saying
to the Constitution,

"Do you love me?"

How wonderful

that they are
saying "I love you.

Now you have to love me back."

But I think the
most important thing

that we have to do now

is take the guns
away from policemen.

And I know, some of
you say "Oh, Nikki,

if we take the guns
away from the policemen,

the policemen will get shot."

Well, yes. They will.

These things happen.

But you can't keep shooting
people who are unarmed.

Because I'm really sick
of people picking on Black men.

In 1983, I wrote you
and you wrote me back.

I was in college ready to quit.

'Cause it was... You know,
I was on a seven-year plan.

So I...

And you said, "Don't give up."

You told me not to give up.

I was at Florida A&M.
I didn't give up.

And I'm now a teacher
in Newark, New Jersey.

But I love you. My sister
used to read me you.

"Nikki-Rosa."

I felt you.

'Cause I know the pains.

"It's not your father's drinking
that makes any difference."

I loved
tonight. It was awesome.

- Thank you.
- Yes!

Thank you for being
such an inspiration.

Oh, thank you.

My daughter's name
is Maya Giovanni

after you.

- Thank you so much.
- It's my pleasure.

Ms. Giovanni,
I just wanna say

- it's an honor meeting you.
- It's my pleasure.

I'm a poet myself. You're
an inspiration to me.

I saw you, like,
on Def Jam Poetry.

Now, I'm saying this,
and I have to get my phone out.

Thank you so much.

I just wanna let you know
that your unapologetic spirit

is what inspired
me to do my PhD.

Aw, thank you so much.

I've been following
you a long time. I love you.

Well, thank you.

"I used
to dream militant dreams

of taking over America

to show these White folks
how it should be done.

I used to dream radical dreams
of blowing everyone away

with my perceptive powers
of correct analysis.

I even used to think I'd
be the one to stop the riot

and negotiate the peace."

In the evolution
of your career,

there's an irony
that as you became

more radicalized, you
work became more popular.

- Do you agree?
- No.

There
is some really strong

revolutionary poetry
such as, "Can You Kill."

- What has changed?
- I've gotten older.

- Have you?
- Sure.

- You...
- Haven't we all?

You see, you
have a poem that begins

"I used to dream
militant dreams."

Yeah, "of taking over."

But
you don't anymore?

The poem ends though,

"I awoke, and that if I
dream natural dreams..."

of being a natural woman,

doing what a woman does
when she is natural,

I would have a revolution."

There are people
who express some disappointment

that you've changed. How
do you react to that?

I'm real sorry,

but I think that my
responsibility in my life

is to grow.

In Washington today,

Jesse Jackson joined the list
of prominent Americans arrested

in anti-apartheid protests.

Harry Belafonte,
Senator Lowell Weicker,

and Gloria Steinem have
something in common.

They are but a few of
the hundreds of Americans

who have been arrested
for demonstrating

against South African apartheid.

Nikki Giovanni
is strongly opposed to apartheid

but scornful of
the demonstrations.

I think it's really cheap
that you go over there at 4:15.

You're arrested by
quarter to five.

You're taken down to
the police station.

You're booked maybe 5:30.

You're home in time
for The Joker's Wild.

You haven't even missed
your favorite TV show.

Our protests
and the protests of so many

that represents the leadership
voice in this country

and who have come down to
Washington to demonstrate,

to lend themselves
to being arrested.

I've done a lot to bring Africa,
South Africa particularly,

to the consciousness
to the American people.

This is a movement
right now at the top.

There is no bottom
movement at all.

This is all head, no body.

You've got traditional
Black leadership group,

you've got celebrity-type names.

I just don't see no
little old church ladies,

I don't see the
buses rolling up.

I don't see the
community organizing.

"Maybe you
are crushed against the wall.

But still I do know this.

You have to know who you are.

And you can't give up on that.

Or you will become what
you don't want to be."

My father was
a fool, by the way.

Which... He was.

Another reason that I know
I'm not going to heaven.

And I'm gonna end
up in hell with Gus,

'cause we have some
things to discuss.

But one day the phone
rang and it was Mommy.

And she said, "You know, Nikki.
Your father's in a hospital."

And I knew that the next thing
I had to do was to be home.

So I bought Mommy a house.
I said we're moving.

And so we moved, and
now we're in my house.

So Gus and I were
having an argument.

He got upset and
he's gonna get up

and I said, "Gus,

the floor that you're
gettin' up on is my floor.

The chair you're
leaning on is my chair."

And so, now he's gettin'
ready to go to his bedroom

'cause he's angry with me.

And I said, "The bedroom
you're going in is my bedroom.

The mattress you're gonna
stretch out on is my mattress."

So now we have a conversation.

And I said, "Lemme tell
you what's gonna happen

for the rest of your life.

You're gonna wake
up in the morning

and you're gonna
smile at this woman

who put up with you
all of these years,

and you're gonna tell
her how happy you were

that she put up with you,

how much you love her

and all that she's
done for you."

I said, "Do you understand me?

You will smile and tell
your wife every morning

you love her. Should
you fail to do that,

I'm gonna have you put
away. Do you understand me?"

So...

He knew I would too.

Ultimately, though,
of course, he died.

And when he did, you
knew he was gonna die.

So when he died, you
know, we buried him.

And I was talking to...

Well, I could've thrown
him in the backyard

and let the dogs eat him, but...

"Sometimes we share a poem

because people are near,

and they would notice
me noticing you.

So I write X and you
write O and we both win.

But always we share a poem
because belief predates action.

And I believe the most
beautiful poem ever heard

is your heart...

racing."

I recruited Nikki

to this position here at Tech.

We had a program and I thought

she would be great
with students.

So we put together
a nomination package

and surprise,
surprise, she accepted

and came here in '87.

I became interested

in the academic
opposition to Nikki.

They didn't wanna
give her tenure.

Part of what they
had against her

is that she was a popular poet.

And popularity doesn't...

usually sit well with academics.

"Spring gave
away to these hot days,

before they fell into
the school bell ringing

and snowflakes falling.

I'm sure they'd cash today
in to be those girls again,

to drive a Power Wheel outside

and be home when the
streetlight came on."

I think it's one of
your best pieces.

Thank you. I wrote
it on the Megabus

back home to see my family.

And buses are to be recom...

I really... Don't you think
it's one of her best pieces?

I think that we as writers,

as we are sharing the
things that are essential,

that are important to us,
that are important to our...

to our hearts, that
we want to share,

then we share that.

And if somebody learns
something from it, we're happy.

And somebody comes
up to us, you know,

in 20 years and says,
"Oh, I read your poem,

you know, when I was 17,
and it meant so much to me."

You couldn't be happier.

But you didn't write that
poem to instruct them.

You wrote that poem...

because you had something on
your mind or on your heart

and you shared it.

So it's not that
we use our talent

to tell people what to do,

it's that we use our
vulnerability to share...

the love in our hearts,
don't you think?

I really do. I really do.

I know that you can
be with a lot of people.

And there's still,
there's just part of you

that belongs to you.

Especially artists.

Because this is how
you get your art done.

This is the price you pay.

I'm fortunate
because I'm a poet,

and poets are allowed
to be hopeful.

We are allowed to speak
to the human condition

and we're allowed
to remind people

that the only
worthwhile endeavor

is another human being.

And we have the ability
to contemplate the future

and to look back into the past.

Somebody has to
think the thought

that has not yet been thought.

You have children

basically so that you can start
somebody off where you finished.

- You see what I'm saying?
- Yes.

So whether it's our
literary children,

or our physical children,
or our emotional children,

I want somebody
to be able to say,

"Okay now, since
Nikki learned that,

I can go forward."

Not to have to
repeat what I did.

There's no point in me

having trod the path that I trod

if nobody else is gonna
be able to go further.

Lately, I've
been trying to think

I wonder what kind of
slave I would have been.

Or those of us who are
White, don't you wonder,

"What kind of slave
owner would I have been?

Don't you?

You too are a part
of segregation.

You too are a part of slavery.

And we wanna know...

what were you thinking?
What were you hoping?

Because it's not fair
to act like slavery

and Blackness is just us.

It's you too.

Some of it might
be embarrassing.

But you have a story to
tell because it's a part

of the American story.

I'm 75, which I
highly recommend.

And I've been having
trouble hearing.

But I'm so proud
of my hearing aid.

So for any of you who
have trouble hearing,

I'm gonna recommend
a hearing aid.

It's not
all that expensive.

And it's amazing because

if you're hearing goes
bad, you know what happens?

You end up with dementia,

because a part of your
brain goes to sleep.

And you can't, you know...

And then you become
unpleasant to be around.

'Cause they're like, "Oh, I
don't like to be around Grandpa,

because he keeps saying 'What?'"

Well, a little hearing aid.

See?

It looks great, doesn't it?

It does. And so I'm always
either adding things.

I had breast cancer

and my doctor, my
surgeon actually,

she said, "Well, we can take
it out and you can have..."

you know, what is that thing,
chemotherapy and stuff...

"Or I can just
take the tit out."

Well, I was 74 years old. What
else am I gonna do with it?

I've had it for ye...

It has done all
that it's gonna do.

So...

It was like, "Yeah, take it off,

you know, let's
get rid of that."

So the tit's gone.

So I took a tit off and
I added an ear. So...

There had to be some kind
of balance going on there.

"I always
liked house cleaning.

Even as a child, I dug
straightening the cabinets,

putting new paper
on the shelves,

washing the
refrigerator inside out,

and unfortunately,

this habit has
carried over to you.

And I find I must remove
you from my life."

"A fool who grins

at a face in the mirror and
tells herself it's pretty.

A sentimental woman
who pressed his shirts

and washed his dirty underwear,

who rubbed his back
with alcohol at night.

I wonder why my insides don't
match my outside anymore,

mumbling to the mirror...

turn off that light."

A sight for sore eyes.

- Both of you.
- You're looking good.

Y'all didn't have to do that.

- Thank you so much.
- Oh, you're welcome.

Oh, that's
great, Novella.

Yeah, I love it too.

Oh, there they are.

What happened to me? What's
the word I'm looking for?

What do you mean?

When I went out and suddenly
I don't know where I am,

- and they int...
- Intubate you?

Yeah, what's that?

Yeah, that's from
respiratory failure.

You're not getting
enough oxygen.

You blackout
when you don't...

I blackout, exactly!

That's happened to me
about four or five times.

- Mm-hmm.
- And, um...

And like you, then when
I... when I wake up,

a part of who I am, I forget.

And then all of a
sudden I'll remember it.

But it comes, it
shoots out in...

- Right.
- Do you know what I am saying?

- I do.
- I know you do.

You know?

Sorry, I'm just gonna
do the orange juice, coffee,

- tea, champagne.
- Champagne.

Straight
to the champagne?

- Yes.
- Yeah, champagne.

- Okay, all right.
- I get a glass a day.

Okay, there's
also mineral water there.

My most favorite
cousin passed away.

- Aw.
- And...

I had spoken to
her the day before,

and she had said to
come and get her,

and I couldn't.

Then we talked, I
calmed her down.

And the next day, her daughter
calls me up and tells me

she was dead. You
know, it was...

I think you reached
out to your cousin.

- I mean, she got from you...
- What she needed.

What she needed, so
that she could relax,

and so she could
go to her next...

her next step.

Mm-hmm.

I hadn't thought
about it like that.

That really helped.

- Yeah, thank you too.
- Thank you for that one.

'Cause it really, uh...

- Ooh!
- Mm-hmm.

These
rings are beautiful.

- Oh, you like these?
- These are beautiful.

- Thank you.
- Yeah, yeah.

- I noticed them. Beautiful.
- You wanna look at it

- up-close and personal?
- Oh, thank you!

Oh, God!

- Yeah.
- Have to put it on.

Really nice.

Ginney designed it.

- You did?
- Well, not really.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

Really lovely.

- Nice weight to it too.
- It does, yeah.

Very nice.

Bye-bye.

- ♪ Let's go higher ♪
- ♪ Let's go higher ♪

- ♪ Higher ♪
- ♪ Higher ♪

- ♪ Let's go higher ♪
- ♪ Let's go higher ♪

- ♪ Higher in my Lord ♪
- ♪ Let's go higher ♪

- ♪ Let's go higher ♪
- ♪ Higher ♪

♪ Higher ♪

- ♪ Higher ♪
- ♪ Let's go higher ♪

- ♪ Higher ♪
- ♪ Higher... ♪

It's hard to
figure out Black people.

And that's a...

No, really, I mean, you
know... you know 'cause you...

- I know.
- It's very hard.

Because you say, um...
Let's say somebody like you.

You've been out of the
church for a long time, okay?

I grew up, of course,
in a Baptist church,

and I really dig the church.

- I think it's a very cool...
- I do too.

I can't dig the theology,

but the music and the
energies of the church.

- Yes.
- But then I went to, um...

The New York Community Choir

had its anniversary recently,
it's first anniversary,

and I went up to
an AME Zion church,

as a matter of fact. And
the lady was singing...

Some lady was singing
"Yes, Jesus Loves Me."

And people started shouting.

- You know what I mean, just...
- Yeah, yeah.

People were shouting.

And it hit me as I
was sitting there.

My God, as a so-called
Black militant,

I have nothing stronger
to offer than Jesus.

Yeah, but you see...
Yeah, but, yeah... but, baby...

And that
was a... It blew...

As a matter of fact, I
got up in church and said,

"Ain't that a bitch."

And suddenly
I was testifying...

- It blew my mind!
- Baby, what we did with Jesus

was not supposed to happen.

- You know, at all.
- I could believe that.

We took him... We
took that cat over.

- We did.
- And made him ours.

It has nothing whatever to
do with that White Jesus

in Montgomery, Alabama,
in that White church.

We did something else with
him. We made him ours.

Juanita,
how are you doing?

I'm doing
fine, and you?

I'm doing good.

- Hello?
- Good morning, Jo, it's Nikki.

This is Nell. How are you?

Hi, Nell.

- How's everything?
- Oh, everything's not good.

I wanted to tell Joe that
Agnes passed this morning.

- No!
- Yeah, yeah.

- How old was she?
- Uh, 94...

Yeah, she just turned 94.

- Yeah, yeah.
- Oh, man!

Now, wait a minute.
She was your aunt?

- From your mom?
- She was my aunt.

The last of the girls. Uh-huh.

- Oh, my God!
- Yeah.

You know all of a
sudden, that's what...

- Excuse me.
- Bothered me a little bit.

I mean, it's that I am the
oldest in the family now.

You know all of a sudden
I became a senior.

Not that it means
anything, but, you know,

all of a sudden you realize

you're the oldest
person in the family.

♪ I've been
through the fire ♪

♪ And I have been
Through the flood ♪

♪ Broken in pieces ♪

♪ And left all alone ♪

♪ But through
it all God bless me ♪

♪ And through
it all God kept me ♪

♪ And through
it all God kept me ♪

♪ Yes, I still ♪

♪ Have a praise inside of me ♪

Please stand for
reading of the gospel.

It isn't often that someone
will die for a righteous person.

But maybe someone might dare
to die for a good person.

But
God shows his love for us because,

while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.

So now that we have been
made righteous by His blood

- we can...
- Thomas, I'm in church.

- Okay.
- But...

- Call me when you get back.
- No, no, Agnes died.

I wanted you to know.
I'll call you later.

- Oh, okay.
- Okay, bye-bye.

While we
were still enemies.

Now that we have
been reconciled,

we now have a restored
relationship with God.

- Amen.
- Amen.

Let us welcome
Nikki Giovanni.

I want to apologize
for my phone ringing.

My aunt died this morning
and I had to start calls.

We're trying to...

deal what you have to deal with

when you have a
death in the family.

I'm now trying to understand

what my responsibilities are

and, you know, some
of us in this room

have probably faced
that and you're saying,

"What now... do I do?"

It's important that
you all look ahead,

because Earth is just about
finished, to be honest.

I think Earth maybe have,

you know, three or four
hundred more years,

but it's just about finished
because we've messed it up.

And I tease the
men all the time,

and I have to laugh at it.

'Cause I think that
their penis is going out.

I think it's gonna
be extinct very soon.

I do.

It's been misused.

And anything that
has been misused

is gonna be gotten rid of.

That we... that we know.

We who are women,

and I have to say
this, we who are women

have a difficult time,

because everybody
wants to control us,

everybody wants to say
what women should do.

What you should do is what
you think you should do,

what you need to do.

And so, we have
to not let people

take away those
things that we need,

those things that we love.

I am very fortunate, I
have a very good friend,

and I would be lost without her.

I don't know, what
I'd do without Ginney.

So, I'm very fortunate to
have somebody who loves me.

I don't care what anybody
has to say about it.

I'm not interested.

And what we have to continue
to do is love one another.

"This is not a poem.

This is hot chocolate at
the beginning of spring,

topped with hand-whipped
double cream,

a splash of brandy
to give it sass,

and just a little
cinnamon to give it class.

This is not a poem,
this is a summer quilt,

log cabin pattern.
See that corner piece?

That was Grandmother's
wedding dress,

That was Grandpapa’s
favorite Sunday tie.

This is a rocking chair.

Rock me gently in
the bosom of Abraham.

This is a bus seat. No, I'm
not going to move today.

This is not a poem, no.

It is a celebration for
the road we have traveled,

it is a prayer for
the roads yet to come.

This is an explosion,
the original Big Bang

that makes the world a
hopeful, loving place.

This is about us
celebrating ourselves.

And a well-deserved honor it is.

Light the candles,
this is a rocket.

Let's ride."

"We're going to Mars,

for the same reason Marco
Polo rocketed to China,

for the same reason Columbus

trimmed his sails on
the dream of spices.

For the very same reason

Shackleton was
enchanted with penguins.

For the reason we fall in
love. It's the only adventure.

We're going to Mars because
whatever is wrong with us

will not get right with us.

So we journey forth,
carrying the same baggage,

but every now and then,

leaving one little
bitty thing behind."

"Maybe not whipping
Uncle Tom to death.

Maybe resisting global war.

One day looking for
prejudice to slip,

one day looking for hatred
to tumble by the wayside.

One day maybe the
whole community

will no longer be vested

in who sleeps with whom.

Maybe one day the Jewish
community will be at rest,

the Christian community
will be content.

The Muslim community
will be at peace.

And all the rest of us will
get great meals at holy days,

and learn new songs
and sing in harmony."

And it’s an
honor to introduce this woman

she is the most
world-renowned Black poet

this world has ever seen.

She's an activist,

a Grammy-nominated activist.

She tells it like it is.

She's original Black girl
magic, motherfuckers.

There is no you
without this goddess.

Give
it up for Nikki,

poet laureate, sister
extraordinaire.

She's gonna lay it on you thick.

Give her a big warm welcome,
Afropunk, put them up!

We're going to Mars.

Because nobody on Earth
has any sense enough

to go to another planet
and get along with anybody.

We have got to send Black women,
we've got to ask Black women,

"Would you mind going up

and seeing what's up
there, what's alive?"

I'm a fan of Black women,

because we are the most
marvelous people on Earth.

♪ I was born in the Congo ♪

♪ I was born in the Congo ♪

♪ I walked To the
Fertile Crescent ♪

♪ And built the Sphinx ♪

♪ I designed a
pyramid So tough ♪

♪ That a star that only glows
Every one hundred years ♪

♪ Falls into the center ♪

♪ Giving divine,
perfect light I am bad ♪

♪ I sat on the throne
Drinking nectar with Allah ♪

♪ I got hot And sent
an ice age to Europe ♪

♪ To cool my thirst ♪

♪ My oldest daughter
Is Nefertiti ♪

♪ The tears From
my birth pains ♪

♪ Created the Nile ♪

♪ I am a beautiful woman ♪

♪ I gazed on the forest ♪

♪ And burned out
The Sahara Desert ♪

♪ With a packet of goat's
meat And a change of clothes ♪

♪ I crossed it in two hours ♪

♪ I am a gazelle ♪

♪ So swift, so swift
You can't catch me ♪

♪ For a birthday present
When he was three ♪

♪ I gave my son
Hannibal An elephant ♪

♪ He gave me Rome
For Mother’s Day ♪

♪ My strength flows ever on ♪

♪ My son Noah built new/ark ♪

♪ And I stood
Proudly at the helm ♪

♪ As we sailed On
a soft summer day ♪

♪ I turned myself into
myself And was Jesus ♪

♪ Men intone my loving name ♪

♪ All praises, all praises I
am the one who would save ♪

♪ I sowed diamonds
In my backyard ♪

♪ My bowels deliver uranium ♪

♪ The filings From
my fingernails ♪

♪ Are semi-precious jewels ♪

♪ On a trip north,
I caught a cold ♪

♪ And blew my nose Giving
oil to the Arab world ♪

♪ I am so hip Even my
errors are correct ♪

♪ I sailed west to reach east ♪

♪ And had to round off
The earth as I went ♪

♪ The hair from
My head thinned ♪

♪ And gold was laid
Across three continents ♪

♪ I am so perfect so divine
So ethereal, so surreal ♪

♪ I cannot be comprehended
Except by my permission ♪

♪ I mean, I can fly
Like a bird in the sky ♪

Let's go
back to the kids.

You talk to those
people who can hear you,

and you save what you can save.

You know, what you have to do

is make it possible
for others to live.

- Mm-hmm.
- You know.

That's the only
reason to be here.

You know, who needs
the rest of it, really!

Would you say that, like,
you tend to be optimistic?

You know, on those kinda levels?

When I pick a kid
up in my arms, yes.

I look at you, yes!

- You know.
- Not me!

- Yes. When I look at...
- I'm very pessimistic.

Oh, no! You're not as
pessimist as you think you are.

- I'm not pessimistic...
- You got far too much energy

to be as pessimistic
as you think you are.

I'm pretty
pessimistic, though.

No, I think you're
pretty realistic.

I think you're pretty cool.

But there has to be a way to
do what we do and survive.

Which is, to me, what
seems to be missing.

Sweetheart. Sweetheart.

Our ancestors taught
us how to do that.

"The captain knew
they were in trouble

in an unknown place, without
communicable abilities,

with a violent and
capricious species.

But they could look out and
still see signs of home,

they could still smell
the sweetness in the air.

But there reached a
point where the captured

could not only not look back,

they had no idea which
way back might be.

There was nothing in the
middle of the deep blue water

to indicate which
way home might be.

And it was that moment when
a decision had to be made.

Do they continue forward

with a resolve to see
this thing through,

or do they embrace the waters
and find another world?"

"In the
belly of the ship,

the moan was heard.

And someone picked up that
moan and a song was raised,

and that song would
offer comfort and hope

and tell the story."

Make yourself, um...

comfortable.

I had no idea what
I was gonna see,

but I did not expect
so many antiques.

That's for sure.

So many people writing in books,

like notes to her
all around this room.

It's really cool.

So, I don't know much
about people before us,

and how they lived, and
where they came from.

I would
like to see young people,

Black young people,
create, basically,

their own Black language
for better communication.

I'm not talking
about creating a language,

I'm talking about saying that
my language is legitimate.

You know, I think so.

We use the language that we use.

They had an Italian Renaissance.

Dante and them wrote
in the vernacular.

Well, we're doing
the same thing.

We're talking about
a Black renaissance,

writing in Black vernacular.
That's what we're talking about.

I'm talking about coming
out of the White Ages

rather than the dark
ones, you dig?

We're coming out
of that into the '70s...

Well, I think it’s really
cool, how you could have

that much confidence
at, like, 20-something.

I do not... Well, I hope I will.

But to be able to
speak like that,

it’s pretty awesome.

So, I hope I can do
that at that age,

or hopefully younger.
That would be ideal.

Oh, you'll be fine.

You'll be fine.

I'm a space freak.

I was able to go

on the SST, on the
Supersonic Transport

actually from London
back to New York,

because a friend
of mine had died

and I wanted to be
there at her funeral.

And the Supersonic...
SST, goes up 70,000 feet,

for those of you
who don't know it.

And at 70,000 feet, you can
see the curve of the Earth.

And I always wanted
to be able to go

just a little bit higher.

I want to go to Space Station
or something like that.

And I know Charles Bolden,
who was the head of NASA.

Dr. Bolden said to me, you know,

"Nikki, I could
take you to space.

You could do that,

but I couldn't bring you
back." And I said, "Charles,

I don't know how
to tell you this."

And maybe some of
you don't understand.

Let me share.

If you were born...

you're gonna die.

And I thought, wouldn't
that be really, just cool?

Because I'm 76 now, and
maybe by the time I'm 80,

'cause I just wanna give
myself few more years.

And when I'm 80, I'll go up

and I'll sit on
the space station

for a couple of years,

'cause we don't have
any artists in space.

We don't have any
poets in space.

And I get to say what I've seen.

And then, you know, I'm gonna
do what everybody else does,

I'm gonna die.

And what I want them to
do is just open the...

There's a door there. And I
want... just open the door

and just let me out.

And you'll just look out,
and you'll see me go and say,

"There goes Nikki." And...

There's another one over there.

See, it's growing.

Now... See, now, he came out.

This guy went and
talked to him, I guess.

"To successfully
go to Mars and back,

you will need a song.

Take some Billie
Holiday for the sad days

and some Charlie Parker
for the happy ones.

But always keep at least one
good spiritual for comfort."

Yeah, I love that smell.

"You will need to
slice or two of a meatloaf,

and if you can manage it, some
fried chicken in a shoebox,

with a moist lemon pound cake,

a bottle of beer,

because no one
should go that far

without a beer, and
maybe a six pack,

so if there is life on
Mars, you can share.

Popcorn for the
celebration when you land,

while you wait on your
land legs to kick in.

And as you climb down the
ladder from your spaceship

to the Martian surface,

look to your left,
and there you'll see

a smiling community

quilting a black-eyed pea,
watching you descend."