Remembering Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni is a titan of America. Nikki Giovanni, to me, was more than just a mentor. She was more of, like, a family member and friend. She was my mother. Nikki was my mother. I was fortunate to have two mothers. Nikki, we will never forget you. We remember, we remember, and today we celebrate you. Nikki didn't like to focus too much on herself. She wanted to focus on everybody else. This is us, the people who loved her and who she loved. Giving back a little bit of what she gave all of us, which was a moment of her time. "25 reasons to love Nikki Giovanni." "Because she loves us." "And her fearlessness and" "her writing shaped the poet" "that I dreamed to be one day." Nikki Giovanni went all in and got to the top of her field and the top of this American experiment. And lived her life with no apology, no excuses, and if you didn't like it, you could just get over there. So, for me, Nikki Giovanni is a role model, and, you know, but if we're going to distill it, a poet. [MUSIC] "These are a few of my favorite things." I did take a few classes with her, and she was fond of some of my writing, and we just kind of continued to build a relationship off of that. But as I told a lot of folks, she's been less of a, "Hey, write like this." Or instructing what my artistry should be. Then we just connected a lot more as people. "Write a Poem with golden letters" "that make golden words." She taught me how to dream bigger. How fortunate and how lucky was I ? Were we ? Every student at Virginia Tech, who got to sit in her class or have a conversation with her, she literally changed our lives. "We will prevail." "We are Virginia Tech !" The thing about Nikki that we are all fortunate about is she was born in a time in American history where we had the ability to document the important folks. So there is a lot out there, whether it's words, video, the documentary, so that if you never meet Nikki Giovanni, you will be able to get some sense of her presence. And those words will last till the end of time. Being here, I think, also gives a moment to just celebrate all of the legacy that she's had, all of the impact that she's had on people, on students. I mean, people just from reading her words alone and never interacting with her directly. So, it means a lot to be able to give her her flowers in this moment. "I can." "Fly like a bird in the sky." "We love you, Nikki !"