A Nikki Giovanni Tribute on International Women’s Day

Remembering a Black love advocate during Women’s History Month

As International Women’s Day approaches, it carries a somber undertone. The recent passing of the legendary poet, Nikki Giovanni, casts a stark light on a painful reality. Black women’s contributions are consistently undervalued.

Nikki Giovanni was one of the mothers of the modern Black Arts Movement. Her extensive list of awards includes 20 honorary doctorates, the Rosa Parks and the Langston Hughes Award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts and Letters, others. But while scrolling through Instagram I saw a post from Black Enterprise that caught me off guard. The headline read: “The Poetry Society of America posthumously awarded Nikki Giovanni the Frost Medal for Lifetime Achievement”. I was taken aback. It’s not like death is a prerequisite for these types of achievement. Sis was 88 years old when she passed.

Beyond International Women’s Day

The Lifetime Achievement Award celebrates poets who have made profound contributions to their craft. Notably, only one person was posthumously awarded between 1940 and 2024. Then, in 2007, the Poetry Society of America presented the award to John Hollander, a living poet at the time. Consequently, this decision prompted Walter Mosley, then a board member, to resign in protest, citing Hollander’s history of racist remarks.

Furthermore, Giovanni’s was a voice that resonated with generations of Black creatives. For instance, Kwame Alexander referenced her as a major influence in his life. In an NPR interview following her passing, Alexander reflected on her legacy:

I don’t have to figure out what her legacy is, and none of us do, y’all. Like, she told us a lot of people refuse to do things because they don’t want to go naked. They don’t want to go without guarantee. But that’s what’s got to happen. She said, you go naked until you die. That’s the way it goes down. And that’s what I learned.

Indeed, her unflinching honesty and commitment to social justice was evident well before she passed away. Therefore, International Women’s Day is the perfect time to highlight what made us love Nikki Giovanni.

However, where was this recognition when she was alive, when her voice could have been amplified, her work celebrated in its full, groundbreaking context Similarly, Nikki Giovanni’s experience is not unique. Black women, across all fields, often find their brilliance acknowledged only after their departure—if at all. In fact, this is the same pattern that has revealed itself in different forms for centuries. Ultimately, this is the exact systemic failure that she often referenced in her work.

Society too often co-opts, rewrites, or erases Black women’s legacies after they die. Remember Claudette Colvin and Marsha P. Johnson? And look at Zoe Saldana’s distasteful portrayal of Nina Simone.

We Can Choose To Do Better.

Jamila Woods. Hannah Drake. Robin G. Lady Brion. Rita Dove. Amanda S. C. Gorman. Staceyann Chin. Maimouna Youssef. We can honor Black women now.

On this International Women’s Day, as we celebrate the achievements of women around the world throughout generations, let us also commit to changing this narrative. Let’s commit to honoring Black women in life, amplify their voices in the present, and recognize their invaluable contributions before they are relegated to history. We can give Black women their flowers now while they can still smell them.

Nikki Giovanni’s legacy deserves more than posthumous praise; it demands a shift in how we see, hear, and value Black women, today and every day.