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Nikki Giovanni answers the question ‘What would Martin do?’
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Nikki Giovanni tells it like it is. Her lecture took more than 200 audience members Thursday, Jan. 17 at the Morrison Center, on an emotionally charged ride through memories of our cherished American history. Giovanni was on campus to deliver the 18th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Celebration keynote address.
“One of the reasons that people never do anything with their lives is they’re afraid of being wrong and therefore they end up being nothing. You have to take a chance. The worst thing in the world is not failure; the worst thing in the world is not doing anything,” Giovanni said.
The facial expressions of spectators reflected the raw emotion conveyed by Giovanni, who took them through America’s past, its present and her view of its future.
Giovanni’s life is marked by interactions with some of America’s most treasured sons and daughters, from Martin Luther King Jr. to Rosa Parks and more.
She was adamant about the fact that these were ordinary people who did extraordinary things; we shouldn’t focus on what we think they would do if they were alive today, but what they stood for while they were alive.
Her poetry is renowned for promoting racial equality, and the urgency of calling black people to realize their identities and their rights. Giovanni was also a well-known civil rights activist the 1960s.