MLK Series
Our annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Series celebrates the life and enduring contributions of Dr. King in creating a more just and democratic society. It also aims to highlight the role of art, design and creative endeavor in advancing justice and democracy.
Nikki Giovanni
MLK Series keynote,
January 16, 2025
World-renowned and one of the foremost authors of the Black Arts Movement, Nikki Giovanni’s work explores race, gender, sexuality, politics and the Black family. Giovanni has published numerous collections of poetry—from her first self-published volume, Black Feeling Black Talk (1968), to New York Times best seller Bicycles: Love Poems (2009).
Giovanni’s notable books of poetry, Black Judgement (1968) and Those Who Ride the Night Winds (1983), were influenced by her participation in the Black Arts Movement and Black Power movement in the 1960s. She has written several works of nonfiction and children’s literature and made multiple recordings, including the Emmy and Grammy-award nominated The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection (2002). She has published more than two dozen volumes of poetry, essays, and edited anthologies and 11 illustrated children’s books, including Rosa, an award-winning biography of Rosa Parks.
Helping to lay the foundation for modern-day spoken word and hip-hop, Giovanni’s poetry “combines fierce conviction, tender humor and an unwavering devotion to telling her truth as a Black woman.” Her dedication in uplifting other Black writers, especially Black women, has been unwavering. Giovanni (preceding Gwendolyn Brooks and Alice Walker) established her own press, NikTom, Ltd., in 1970 to advance the publication and promotion of works by Black women writers. For years, her advocacy has extended to voting rights worldwide including the right of incarcerated people to vote—a position referenced in her poem, Vote.
Covering her career and involvements from the civil rights movement and Black Arts Movement to Black Lives Matter, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (2023) earned the 2024 Emmy Award for exceptional merit in documentary filmmaking, the 2023 grand jury prize at Sundance Film Festival (documentary) and 2023 jury prize at the 2023 San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival (outstanding documentary feature). Her lifetime awards include the 2022 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the inaugural Rosa L. Parks Woman of Courage Award, the American Book Award, the Langston Hughes Award, the Virginia Governor’s Award for the Arts and the Emily Couric Leadership Award, a Literary Excellence Award. She is a seven-time recipient of the NAACP Image Award. She holds 27 honorary degrees from various colleges and universities and has been bestowed the key to over two dozen cities.
Giovanni was educated at Fisk University, University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University.