"But you see, he wanted to win his third jacket. That meant more to him than anything," Giovanni continued. "So the left-handed boy from Canada, who had never won diddly-squat in his life, and never will again, came up and beat him. I was so glad!"
Professor Giovanni also talked about the late Civil Rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., and pondered on what MLK would be doing if he were alive today. "[Martin] would have braids, a pool cue with a mahogany case and a tattoo . . . something like 'Freedom Now' or 'Go Vote'"," she said, adding, "I have a tattoo, and mine says, 'Thug Life.'"
[Editor's note: Holy shit, Nikki Giovanni – a thug poet? What's her next book going to be now – Get Poetic or Die Writing?]
Finally, the thug poetess encouraged students to find their destiny in life and go on a self-imposed journey of self-discovery. "You can't just sit around and let people tell you any damn thing," she said. "The only person who needs to discover you is – you."
Article comments
1 - Gaynelle Howard
what the story or reason behind the thug life tattoo that Nikki Giovanni has and also why did she change her name to Nikki Giovanni?
2 - alyssa
i like your poems very well
3 - alyssa
your thug life was really good but you are a good poet and writer.
4 - alyssa
what the story or reason behind the thug life tattoo that Nikki Giovanni has and also why did she change her name to Nikki Giovanni?
5 - Ashley
Thug Life is an acronym
T-The
H-Hate
U-You
G-Give
L-Little
I-Infants
F-F**ks
E-Everybody