Favorite Nikki Giovanni Poem, All Eyez on U

Hello everyone. I hope everyone is having a great Tuesday. Here is another one of my favorite Nikki Giovanni poems, it was written in honor of Tupac Shakur, entitled "All Eyez on U."

If you didn't get a chance to read Nikki Giovanni's Interview Part 2, please do so. Leave a comment and let us know what you thought about the interview. I would like to get more renowned poets and writers, but we have to show them so love. I enjoy them, I hope you do too, so please leave a comment and let them know you do too. If you haven't joined the Spotlight Poetry Contest, there is still time to do so, just got the Spotlight Poetry Submission tab for more details.


Enjoy and have a blessed day!

"All Eyez on U" by Nikki Giovanni

as I tossed and turned unable to achieve sleep unable to control anxiety unable to comprehend why
2Pac is not with us
if those who live be the sword died be the sword there would be no white men on the earth
if those who lived on hatred died on hatred there would be no KKK
if those who lived by lies died by lies there would be nobody on wall
street in executive suits in academic offices instructing the young
don’t tell me he got what he deserved
he deserved a chariot and the accolades of a grateful people
he deserved his life
it is as clear as a mountain stream as defining as a lightning strike
as terrifying as sun to vampires
there were those who called it dirty
gansta rap inciting there were those who never wanted to be
angry at conditions but angry at the messenger who reported:
your kitchen has roaches your toilet is over flowing you basement has so much water the rats are in the living room your house is in disorder
and 2Pac told you about it
what a beautiful boy graceful carriage melodic voice sharp wit intellectual breadth
what a beautiful boy to loose
not me
never me
I don’t believe east coast west coast
I saw them murder Emmett Till I saw them murder Malcolm X
I saw them murder
Martin Luther King
I witnessed them shooting Rap Brown I saw them beat LeRoi Jones
I saw them fill there jails I see them burning churches
not me
never me
I do not believe this is some sort of mouth action
This is some sort of political action and they picked well
they picked the brightest freshest fruit from the tallest tree
what a beautiful boy
but he will not go away
as Malcolm did not go away
as Emmett Till did not go away
your shooting him will not take him from us
his spirit will fill our hearts
his courage will strengthen us for the challenge
his truth will straighten our backbones
you know, Socrates had a mother
she too watched here son drink hemlock
she too asked why
but Socrates stood firm and would not lie to save himself
2Pac has a mother
the lovely Afeni had to bury her son
it is not right
it is not right that this young warrior is cut down
it is not right for the old to bury the young
it is not right
this generation mourns 2Pac as my generation mourned Till as we all mourn Malcolm
this wonderful you warrior
Sonia Sanchez said when she learned of his passing she walked all day
walking the beautiful warrior home to our ancestors I just cried as all
mothers cry for the beautiful boy who said he and Mike Tyson would
never be allowed to be free at the same time who told the truth about
them and who told the truth about us who is our beautiful warrior
there are those who wanted to make him the problem
who wanted to believe if they silenced 2Pac all would be quiet on the ghetto
front there are those who testified that the problem wasnÕt the conditions
but the people talking about them
they took away band
so the boys started scratching they took away gym
so the boys started break dancing the boys started dancing the boys started rapping
cause they gave them the guns and the drugs but not the schools and libraries
what a beautiful boy to loose
and we mourn 2Pac Shakur and we reach out to his mother and we
hung ourselves in sadness and shame
and we are compelled to ask:
R U Happy, Mz Tucker? 2Pac is gone
R U Happy?

What is your favorite Nikki Giovanni poem? And what poem do you remember most by Ms. Nikki Giovanni?





Nikki Giovanni Interview Part 2

Good day everyone. Today is part 2 of my interview with renowned and acclaimed poet, Nikki Giovanni from June 14, 2011. If you would like to read part one, please go to Nikki Giovanni Interview Part 1 to catch up. We still have two more interviews after today, each interview will be posting on Monday for the entire month of July. And don't forget to check out the Spotlight Poetry Contest also going on for the entire month of July. If you would like to participate, please go to Spotlight Poetry Submission for more details. Also, please enjoy the poets from last week, Poetry Contest Day 1 and Contest Day 2, that have already been selected for the poetry contest. Please leave a comment and let them know how well they each did.

Enjoy the interview.

Nikki Giovanni Interview Part 2

Tupac Shakur's birthday is in two days. (It was at the time of this interview). You wrote a poem about Tupac, titled, "All Eyez on U" and you even got a Thug Life tattoo, what motivated you do do so?

He was a genius. And a wonderful young man. I think he was deliberately misunderstood. And I think that his death was a great loss.

I agree. It really was.


After the Virginia Tech Massacre, you created two beautiful poems that mourned the tragedy of that event, but also offered words of encouragement to students to stand tall and brave. Those poems were released in a book of poetry entitled Bicycles: Love Poems. What does the bicycle represent?

Bicycle are about trust and balance. That's all a bicycle is. When you get on a bicycle you have to balance and you have to trust that if you keep paddling  you won't fall. And that's what life is and that's what love is.

True. Very true.

Well, it's been what five or six years now? None of the students are still here.


They've gone on.

Yes, they've graduated and moved. Sure. This is America. There is a tragedy someplace everyday in America. Everyday somebody is getting killed because some fool has a gun.


Is poetry born out of anger, grief, love or a combination, or perhaps something all together different?

Poetry is an emotion. It comes out an emotional awareness. I wouldn't begin to try to say what brings poetry forth.


You stated previously, that losing your father is different than losing your mother, can you explain?

Probably not. But usually when you lose your father, you have your mother. But when you lose your mother, you only have your brothers and sisters, or sometimes you're by yourself. But it's a major change.


You've experienced a lot of grief with the passing of your father, your mother, your sister, and even the loss of your lung. How does this affect your poetry without having it all pertain to sadness and loss?

I don't think that it's sad. Death is apart of life. And our health in the modern world. everybody has got, well not everybody, I don't mean each and every....people come up with cancers all the time. I'm very fortunate that I'm alive. I've got good medical care and I'm a big fan of medical care. And this is apart of life, life was never what you saw on television.


What do you think about America having a black president and a black first lady? Do you think as African Americans we've made it to the hilltop and brought Martin Luther King's dream to fruition?

NO. I don't think so. This hasn't anything to do with King's dream. King dreamed of a just world. And I don't think we can look at this world that we are living in and see that it's just. America is fighting four wars. I dont' see the justice. We are still holding people in Guantanamo and we are still outsourcing torture and we're sending in drones to kill people. I voted for Barack Obama, this first time. I will not vote for him again. I'm bitterly disappointed that He has not lived up to his promise at all.


If you had a chance to meet President Obama, what would you tell him?

I don't have any reason to think I would have a chance to meet Obama, anymore more than George Bush, any more than any of the other presidents, so I can't think like that. And the color of his skin doesn't change that. The president has to stand for something. And I don't care what color of his skin is. And Barack Obama has refuse to do so.

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Stay tuned for Part 3 of my interview with Nikki Giovanni next Monday. You don't want to miss what else she has to say.

What did you think of Ms. Giovanni's interview?