Poetry: Nikki Giovanni

Poet, activist, and educator Nikki Giovanni has been an outspoken voice within the African American community for thirty years. The author of many volumes, Giovanni has received accolades ranging from a Grammy nomination to more than twenty-five honorary degrees. Influenced by African American activists and artists, Giovanni has always been committed to the fight for equality. She believes in expressing the truth as she sees it, and in the potential for self-empowerment in each individual. Her earliest poems were inspired by the civil rights and black power movements, and her writings continue to reflect contemporary events and experiences in her own life, as well as in the broader African American community. Giovanni’s interest and involvement in hip hop is, therefore, not surprising. She is referenced in songs by such artists as Blackalicious, Nas, and Kanye West, and here she expresses her reciprocal support and respect for hip hop culture.

Read Nikki Giovanni's poet's statement

Installation: Shinique Smith

Born in Baltimore, Shinique Smith trained at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Today she lives in Brooklyn and works in a variety of artistic mediums, including painting, sculpture, collage, and video. The creative manner in which she incorporates materials—found, bought, and created—into bundled sculptures and three-dimensional installations is a hallmark of her art. While not a portrait in a traditional sense, each object resonates with personal significance or recalls something of the individual who owned it. Smith has found inspiration from a diverse range of sources. Japanese calligraphy and abstract expressionism have been important to her, although as a former member of a graffiti crew she has developed a body of work that owes much to the tradition of tagging public space. No Thief to Blame, Smith’s installation for “RECOGNIZE!,” was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery and represents Smith’s creative response to Nikki Giovanni’s poem, “It’s Not a Just Situation.”

Read Shinique Smith's artist statement

 
 

It’s Not a Just Situation:
Though We Just Can’t Keep Crying About It
(For the Hip Hop Nation
That Brings Us Such Exciting Art)

By Nikki Giovanni

 

           You don’t
Just wake up and brush your teeth and make up your bed
and put on your favorite pair of blue jeans

           You don’t
on other evenings
Just sneak away from your sleeping lover
Just to grab a bite of Quik Stop
Just to hop a train

           You don’t
Just visit the 24 hour superstore
Just to get a few cans
of spray paint
And
Just happen to have a case to put them in

           You are not
Just out of yellow
So you’ll
Just shadow with grey this time
And
Just shy of metallic blue you will
Just fill in with electric orange

           You are not
Just bored
Or hungry or silly or
Just crying for attention

           You are
Just, if there is a
Just
Trying to be an artist

            You are
Just
If there is any
Justice
Trying to find a way of not
Just surviving but living

You are just
           trying to show the beautiful soul of your people
You are just
           trying to say “I’m alive”
You are just
           determined to be more
           than what the powers who
Just hate the idea of you want you to be

You are just
           trying to discover the route
           of the neo underground railroad
           so that your kids can
Just be free

You are just
           being a man
You are just realizing
           your womanhood
You are just singing and smiling
           because you
Just don’t want to cry anymore

You are just
           falling in love
           because hatred is too hard to bear

You are just
           determined
           to be the very best you and
You just guess
           you better not let anyone take that away

You are just
           a person
           with a big heart and wonderful talent
That you just
           think should be shared

           Put a button on it
           people

            ‘cause suspenders
Just
           won’t
           do

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click to enlarge imageNo Thief to Blame
Shinique Smith, 2007-08
Mixed media installation (fabric, cardboard, carpet, paper, ink, spray paint, used clothing, found objects, and collage)
 
Click to enlarge imageNo Thief to Blame (detail view)
Shinique Smith, 2007-08
Mixed media installation (fabric, cardboard, carpet, paper, ink, spray paint, used clothing, found objects, and collage)
 
Click to enlarge imageNo Thief to Blame (detail view)
Shinique Smith, 2007-08
Mixed media installation (fabric, cardboard, carpet, paper, ink, spray paint, used clothing, found objects, and collage)
 
   
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