Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni was born June 7, 1963 in Knoxville, Tennessee. She attended Fisk University in Nashville, Tenessee, and while there reestablished the Fisk chapter of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Her involvement with the Civil Rights Movement continued primarily through her writings, which include many poems: "Black Feeling, Black Talk, Black Judgement", "Re:Creation", and "Those who Ride the Night Winds".

YOU CAME, TOO

I came to the crowd seeking friends
I came to the crowd seeking love
I came to the crowds seeking understanding

I found you

I came to the crowd to weep
I came to the crowd to laugh

You dried my tears
You shared my happiness

I went from the crowd seeking you
I went from the crowd seeking me
I went from the crowd forever

You came, too

THE FUNERAL OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

His headstone said
FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST
But death was a slave's freedom
We seek the freedom of free men
And the construction of a world
Where Martin Luther King could have lived
and preached non-violence

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