Renowned poet and activist Nikki Giovanni, a towering voice of the 1960s Black Arts Movement, has died at the age of 81.

Giovanni passed on Monday after her third battle with cancer, as confirmed by her friend and author Renée Watson.

Born Yolande Cornelia Giovanni Jr. in 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee, she earned the nickname “Nikki” from her sister. Giovanni attended Fisk University, where she connected with Black literary luminaries such as Amiri Baraka and Dudley Randall, later honing her craft at Columbia University’s School of the Arts.

Nikki Giovanni’s Literary Journey

Her literary career began in 1968 with the publication of two groundbreaking poetry collections, Black Feeling, Black Talk and Black Judgement. Over the years, she authored over 30 works, including Those Who Ride the Night Winds and Bicycles: Love Poems.

As a central figure in the Black Arts Movement, Giovanni stood alongside contemporaries like Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and Thelonious Monk. Her poetry celebrated Black liberation, explored themes of love and family, and critiqued societal injustices. Despite FBI surveillance during her activism, Giovanni famously welcomed agents into her home “for coffee,” showing her characteristic wit and defiance.

Beyond poetry, Giovanni championed hip-hop, wrote acclaimed children’s books such as Rosa, and engaged in thought-provoking conversations with icons like Muhammad Ali on the Black arts show Soul!

Giovanni’s legacy also includes a long tenure teaching English at Virginia Tech from 1987 to 2022. Her time there was shadowed by the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, in which a former student of hers committed a tragic act of violence.

At the time of her passing, Giovanni was working on a memoir, A Street Called Mulvaney, and a final poetry collection.

She is survived by her son Thomas, her granddaughter, and her wife, Virginia Fowler, an English professor who became her biographer before their marriage.

Nikki Giovanni’s profound impact on literature and activism will continue to resonate for generations.