so delighted to be able to welcome
everyone this afternoon I'm Jennifer
King and I serve as the director of the
Stewart arrows manuscript archives in
rare book library and on behalf of the
Emery libraries I'm delighted to welcome
you to emory university schwartz
performing arts center for an incredibly
special poetry reading this gorgeous
Saturday afternoon with one of the most
impactful poets of our generation Nikki
Giovanni we've all been looking forward
to this day this afternoon's program is
made possible thanks to the wonderful
support from creative writing at Emory
and the Hightower fund I want to thank
our colleagues and the Schwartz
Performing Arts Center for all they have
done to make today possible along with
the organizers planners poets curators
archivists you the audience members
funders and friends who support this
program we here at Emory have many
things to celebrate and one of those is
the prominent place that poetry holds in
our hearts and on our campus since the
fall of 2005 the Raymond danowsky poetry
series has hosted some of the best poets
from America and abroad including Seamus
Heaney Billy Collins Carol Ann Duffy
Natasha Trethewey Lucille Clifton
Elizabeth Alexander Rita Dove Mary
Oliver Tracy K Smith Richard Blanco this
reading series is one of the
longest-running initiatives of its kind
on our campus the Rose library's
extraordinary poetry archive offers us
all a window into the writing process
and the relationships that sustain and
support the art of poetry the library
also gives us opportunity to create
community and connections with events
like today's we are so honored to have
Nikki Giovanni with us today
and here to introduce Nikki Giovanni as
Gabrielle Dudley my colleague in the
Rose library instruction archivist who's
also the curator of the exhibition she
gathers me networks among black women
writers good afternoon
oh what a time to be alive we are so
lucky to be able to share space and time
on this earth with an icon and living
legend like Nikki Giovanni judging from
this record-breaking crowd you all know
the greatness that we are about to
witness but for those of you that might
be new here
miss Giovanni has been awarded seven in
double-a-c-p Image Awards she is a
Grammy nominated poet and a three-time
New York Times bestselling writer she
was named one of Oprah's 25 living
legends and holds the keys to more
cities than I can even count since 1987
she has been on the faculty at Virginia
Tech where she is the University
distinguished professor it is a
challenge for me to think about what
Nikki Giovanni means to me and my
generation without thinking about my
parents maple and George Dudley my
mother the reader and writer my father
the revolutionary looking back I don't
think there was a time that Nikki
Giovanni's words were not with me my
parents taught me and my siblings black
love is black wealth and to beat out my
own rhythm and we cannot possibly leave
it to others to tell my stories I heard
this over and over again as a child so
imagine my surprise me a precocious
preteen when I was reading Nikki
Giovanni for the first time and saw what
I thought were my parents words
staring back at me everything my parents
have ever taught me about myself my
blackness my worth was lifted from miss
Nikki Giovanni herself a part of me
wanted yes that is simply a part of me
wanted to call my parents out on that
but I knew that wouldn't be a good idea
so instead I began to understand my
parents and what they knew to be the
power of words and affirmation they
understood the power of poetry to not
only change their lives but to raise up
a new generation poetry like that of
Nikki Giovanni's is intergenerational
and intersectional it challenges us to
engage in connect to our world in new
and scary and beautiful ways it supports
us in conquering our fears and encourage
us it encourages us to show up in the
world audaciously and as nothing other
than our own authentic selves so it is
only fitting to have the 20th annual
Reyna danowsky poetry library reading
series feature a poet whose words have
given such power to generations please
join me in welcoming the woman whose
words raised me miss Nikki Giovanni
thank you
it's very nice - it's very nice to be
here it's always good to be back in
Atlanta very nice thank you well I was I
was just saying to Nick who's the young
man you see in the jack and everything
and I said to him you know I'm glad it's
my football season because we're running
15 minutes late and if it was football
season and we ran over all y'all be you
know sorry Nick you know we enjoyed it
but you know gotta make kickoff you know
some I'm really glad I don't know I
didn't do a mic check and I don't know
if it's okay can I just pull it down a
little bit the first thing you learn in
this business is don't touch the mic but
I don't know and this is not important I
just thought I'd share it for a minute I
don't know if you saw USA Today
yesterday and they had it I hate any
newspaper doesn't have comics but you
gotta have how do you make it through
the day without pickles but I loved it
but they had their their front page was
that that Mississippi and Alabama had
problems as they put it with the
prisoners and so they were upset about
it and so what Mississippi said I just
thought I'd have to share it with what
Mississippi was saying was we don't have
enough guards and I thought no you have
too many prisoners
but you know it never occurs to them
anything like that and you do get
tired it shouldn't like that with if the
youngsters realist you just get tired of
hearing that you know people are in jail
and then 25 years later somebody says
they're innocent 25 years later you
don't care if they're guilty
twenty-five years is a long time and I'm
a big fan of voting and I wanted to
share that it was such a pleasure for me
for a lot of reasons but I'm a delta and
when I saw when I saw that when we
pulled up and I saw that read I said
didn't they can you know stop the car I
gotta get up absolutely and of course we
recognize that our mothers are the AKS
if I can just share one stupid thing but
it's true
speaking of haze I had the
they're good people
I know I had the pleasure of knowing
mrs. Parks for a lot of reason it was a
rainy terrible day in in Pennsylvania
and she was going one place and miss
parks didn't traveled alone and I was
going another and I do I am essentially
a nervous person I'm so proud of myself
right now that I'm letting people stand
behind me because sit or whatever
they're doing I really I don't ever like
people behind me but I know that you
know I feel safe but it makes you
nervous so when I walked into it for
those of you who know the old Pittsburgh
Airport I walked into it it was an old
trailer really it wasn't even an airport
and I walked in and did what I did
actually here though nobody knew that or
even hope I didn't look like it and I
looked around to see okay where can I
put my back and I can sleep anyplace I
could actually stand up here and
probably get a big nap you know and so I
found someplace and I sat down and then
I looked over and it's one of those two
and that one was looks just like Rosa
Parks and so I did what any old lady
can't see they put on my glasses and I
looked I said mrs. parks and she was
sitting there she traveled you know at
that point with her niece and she was
sitting there so I'm not a fool I had my
problems but I'm not a fool now I saw a
black woman and a black woman and next
to them was a white man now I knew that
I could not ask that white man to do
what I wanted done because I could have
walked over to him and said excuse me
sir you're sitting next to a cultural
icon and I'd like to have your seat
please you know that wouldn't happen
because he's white he would have known
that I got something you know I'm saying
and
but it never let me have it so I did
that thing that some of you who are my
age know it's called bogarting and so he
looked up at me and I said well are you
gonna move or what and I'm sorry and I
sat down and I said miss parks you know
I introduced myself and it was
really great because after a while we
became friends
and miss parks was a tea drinker some of
you know I'm a coffee drinker as
probably everybody knows now and so we
were up there she was in Detroit but you
know because she had to leave as you
know Alabama for variety of reasons and
so we were just sitting there well they
were gonna kill her you know but other
than that she would have been fine so we
were sitting there one day and I'm sure
that all of you know when you're talking
to people like Rosa Parks you know you
just can't say stupid things like you
know how did you feel when you sat on
the bus and knew that you were going to
be arrested that make sense and you
can't do it you know but we were sitting
there and I got so I'm not a vicious
gossip but I gossip and I don't do a lot
but I don't sort of listen to a lot of
things and I was having my coffee she's
having her tea and I said you know miss
parks it is amazing to me when I look at
your life and I realize you only made
one mistake it's amazing and miss parks
was very cool some of you knew miss
parks
she was a very cool person but I think I
caught her off guard and her face fell
just and she said and what would that be
baby
I said you went aka
but you know she should have been a
Delta We laughed so we have a lot in
common
AKA they're all good people you take a
look you had Maya you got Tony Morrison
I mean you know you have a lot of a lot
of good people because we have the
people that did the important work Barbara Jordan
shame on me shame on me I wrote a
poem that I'd like to share and it's
called I've been working on the title
I'm not really sure what I'm gonna call it I
started to call it vote and then last
night I was really getting trying to
work it through and I called it 20/20
because you have to vote and you know
and I know a lot of what's going on with
the voters that people want to
discourage us and they want to say you
know Donald Trump is going to win or
whatever and that's not the point you
don't play the game to win you play the
game to play it and to play your best
and as we all know if Hitler had had
married Satan they would have had Donald
Trump
so I want to encourage everybody to vote
fill it in fill in the blank it doesn't
matter because there was a woman if I
may and this is not Nikki here to give
you a history lesson there's a woman
named fannie lou hamer and as you know
Miss Hamer's Mississippian, and Miss
Hamer organized the Mississippi freedom
Democratic Party and what she wanted
because she said the Democratic Party in
Mississippi was of course all white and
racist and you know what I still don't I
just don't understand why white people
are afraid of black people
I just don't there's I mean what has to
be feared that you have to walk around
so I can't sit next to you I can't drink
from the same fountain I can't what what
are you afraid of and of course those of
us in this room or anyplace else who are
rich and there are rich white people you
can't they can't be considered rich they
can't be considered white because we
know that you are what you eat
and the richer you are you know that
your father didn't want your mother's
messed up because he wanted to play with
them
so when his wife got pregnant he would
send down into the slave quarters wouldn't
he, and ask which slave had milk and
they would bring that slave woman up and
the baby would drink from that I'm gonna
say it again you are what you eat ain't
nobody really white but that's a whole nother discussion I guess but I've been I've
been and I watched Donald Trump and I'm
not gonna keep doing but I think what is
he afraid of what what makes you've
never seen a bunch of black boys cover
their faces in the middle of the night
and go into a white neighborhood
to lynch somebody or shoot somebody and
that's what the Klan did if you're proud
of it if you that's what you're gonna do
then let me see your face so now that's
true now we're seeing white supremacist
and everybody is saying you know
understand them I don't want to
understand I want them in jail and I
want my brothers and my husband's and my
friends out
I guess it's called vote it's not a hug
nor mistletoe at Christmas it's not a
colored egg at Eastern or a bunny
hopping across the meadow it's a vote
saying you are a citizen though
sometimes it's chocolate or sometimes
it's vanilla it can be female or male it
is right or left I can agree or disagree
but and this is an important but I am a
citizen I should be able to vote from
prison I should be able to vote from the
battlefield I should be able to vote
when I get a driver's license I should
be able to vote when I can purchase a
gun I must be able to vote if I am in
the hospital if I am in the old folks
home if I am needing a ride to the
polling place I am a citizen I must be
able to vote folks were lynched folks
were shot folks communities were
gerrymandered folks who believed in the
Constitution were lied to
burned out bought and sold because they
agreed all men and women are created
equal folks vote to make us free it's
not cookies nor cake but it is icing
that is so sweet good for us good for
the folks my country tis of thee
I should have finished. mrs. Hamer
organized the Mississippi freedom
it dawned on me I didn't and you know
how poor Mississippi is some of you do
and what she did was got a bus and she
took the Mississippi freedom Democratic
Party was at the Atlantic City Lyndon
Johnson was president because Jack
Kennedy had been murdered and she
demanded that they be seated rather than
the traditional Democrats now you don't
have to like Lyndon Johnson it's not
about that but Lyndon was a
politician so he knew he thought how to
get things done and it worried him that
this was going to mess up his his
convention so he went to mrs. Hamer and
he said okay how can we work this out
because Lyndon tried to work everything
out and he finally said to her why don't
we give you two seats and let them have
the four and I will quote Fannie Lou on
that one she said I didn't come here for
no two seats now she was a great old gal
and what she did was she put her people
back on the bus so that they could go
back home to organize it now miss Hamer
knew what you and I and everybody else
in this room is old enough to know it
knew that when they crossed the border
to Mississippi I'm sure she thought she
was going to be killed but they stopped
the bus and took miss Hamer off and beat
her and beat her and beat her and I said
as long as there's anything that's why I
wanted to just remind us as long as
there's any breath in my body I'm gonna
vote because Fannie Lou paid for it.
It's important. you can fill it in you
can do anything you want but it's it's
important because they want to silence
us
and we're not gonna be silenced you know
you I know that their children here so
cover the children's ears for just a
second it's important to call the mother
a mother
and I know so I said well you know I
needed my job I didn't want to get no no
none of that Judas said that didn't he, I
could have used my thirty pieces of
silver because I had a woman I had to
feed. Peter said you know what you have
to understand you know I'm with you I'm
on your side and Jesus looked at Peter
and you said you're going before the
crow that's three times you are going to
deny me we know these things we just
have to make sure we're not a part of it
and maybe we can't I'm an old woman so
one of the things I've learned maybe I
can't change the world not maybe I can't
change the world but I know this the
world will not change me. It's important
to be who you are and to get who you
want done and we know what's going on
they they're they've lied and cheated so
there's neither here nor there we have
to go and say we have a voice. our
ancestors our African ancestors sold us to
our European ancestors who sold us to
what was going to become our American
ancestors who split us up and sold us up
and down we believed in the Constitution
we always forget might just have to say
this one we always forget that there
were slaves on the east coast of the
United States we forget that John Adams
had slaves and we have to remember that
Jane I don't know I just somehow don't
think the Jane Addams could cook but we
remember but we remember that she had a
slave and I'm sure because I'm a black
woman myself and if I'm in that kitchen
with that right woman whose husband is
going to the Constitutional Convention
I'm going to say to her you know Miz
Adams y'all have been to st. good having
my folks in slavery ain't good and
somebody could say well you know the
slaves were ignorant and I just want to
remind you to mind us there was nothing
ignorant about the slaves the slaves
were not uneducated the slaves were
un degreed.
and we have to remember that so that we
who find ourselves in places like Emory
and good for you I'm happy but you're
here because we are climbing in the
words of a great spiritual Jacob's
Ladder every round that was higher and
higher so we are proud when you graduate
when you walk across that stage we are
proud of you
but people 400 years ago would have been
proud of you you are going to walk
across that stage and get a degree and
then you're going to help your children
because the degree is the points in the
game the degree is when you shoot the
basket the degree is when you catch the
football that's all it is they
don't say you know nothing because most
have you don't you know you don't and
you've been in here being depressed and
being upset because somebody told you
you're uglier you dumb and the people
that told you that as stupid as all
get-out to you have to you get that
degree because it makes your grandmother
and your great-grandmother sitting on
the porch it makes them happy that's
what you do so I just want to encourage
you I want to say it's a good idea to be
old I live in a country and I know we
live in a country that everybody's
supposed to be thin and young I do not
recommend either one
it's good to be old and you don't really
get to be old until you around 50
because the rest of it is a struggle
yeah there's nothing on earth is worse
than being 14 or 15 no it's just damn
sad so we want you to go on we want you
to do what you have to do but if you get
old then you can find yourself sitting
on the porch and a swing remembering
those people who wanted the best for you
remembering who loves you you have to be
careful about your Facebook and this is
not Nikki's lecture on that but you have
to be careful about the Facebook because
those people lie people write you oh I
had such a good sex last night but then
why are you telling me? people read that
and they think oh my life has sad. no
life is sad is all these people telling
you these lies and you gotta watch the
lies the president lies, the Attorney
General lies, all them people lying and
the thing that was so good about my
generation is that we knew segregation
was a lie. now we got rid of it so you
gonna have to learn to live with the
truth and we're gonna wish you the best
on that I do I wish you the best. it's
a good idea to be old and I want you - yeah, it's fun, and old teaches you about love I was
talking about the other night you know
and I just say this as an old woman
because sex is funny anybody tell you
sex not fun has to have bad sex it's
true and if it's not fun get rid of
whatever it is you're screwing and get
something else.
That's the truth. I was looking at the fool Donald Trump and you
know they're all upset about the gay
people you might say I don't think gay
people you know what then don't screw us
it's so easy they upset
I don't think gay people should get
married then don't marry us it's so easy
and everybody like well I don't - nobody
gives a damn what you like go live your
life and let us take that next step so
that everybody could live theirs. I wrote
a love poem because i think falling in
love is a lot of fun it's when you get
to be my age you do know the difference
between love and sex some people in this
room are my age or close to it there's a
really really really big difference
between love and sex. sex is for when
you're young and healthy and you have
energy you know things that go with it
but love is about old being old and
being old together and waking up in the
morning and fixing grits
so that somebody that you love can
have breakfast and pouring them orange
juice and making sure that their bed is
made up and and and and you know Flowery
out the quilts and doing that love is
about what you do for each other let us
love is also about if I may what you
take it's not just what you give you
have to learn if you love you have to
learn to let people help you to let
people show that they love you and
that's not hard that's not easy because
you think all the time men do that
especially because they've been always
thinking I can take care of this I can
do this my that has nothing to do with
it. sometimes we want to show you that we
love you and we want to do something and
all we want you to do is smile and
pretend you like it.
that's the truth. oh honey that was a
good breakfast you didn't have to like
it just eat it and smile. it's the truth
it's never not a woman in this world you
know that was his last thing I'm gonna
say about that but it made me so mad I
have a son but it made me so mad because
there's been this thing and again the
president is such an awful son of a
bitch. he is
he's sitting on stage deciding you know
he said his penis is bigger than
anybody else there's not a woman in this
room that chose a man for the size of
his dick
Not a one. We choose you for the size
of your heart so it's time that men stop
playing the dick game. grow up damn it.
it's just love it won't sweeten your
coffee or ice your tea
it won't grill your a steak or bake your
crusty bread it certainly won't pour
your olive oil over your shredded
parmigiano-reggiano lettuce
it might make you laugh it's just love
it won't rub your feet or your back it
won't tassel your hair or paint your
fingernails red it make make you want
red finger nails though. it's only love it
has no coupon value though it also does
not expire just you just me yeah just
good for nothing love when you get tired
of it throw it away
there's a reason pencils have erasers
and sometimes sometimes things don't
work everyone once you'd feel sorry
about that to do they had to get a
divorce that's better than you murdering
me. being here in Atlanta though we think
about Martin of course we always do and
it becomes essential that we remember
and Martin made quite a sacrifice I
think that he made a big change in the
world and I think that anybody I didn't
know dr. King I shouldn't even call him
Martin I didn't know him and you don't
know everybody yesterday I had my
CSK Coretta Scott King t-shirt on
because of the the librarians and if
there any librarians in the room god
bless you because yep they are the most
librarians are the most wonderful people
and but but when we look at dr. King and
we look at what he what he wanted and
what he was trying to do we try to say
to ourselves now where do we fit in that
and we have to admit if I may that all
you can do is what you can do does that
make and you can't make yourself do more
because it's not possible you can only
do what you can do but you
to love what you've done because you're
done but you could do and I think people
try to take that away from you too you
have to be careful because it's so easy
I think to be depressed to think Oh
somebody makes more money or somebody is
better looking I'm a baby sister so I'm
very lucky because baby sisters have
more trouble in the world because our
big sisters are always smarter always
better-looking they can always do
everything and my big sister's name was
Gary Ann and they would say you know
Nikki can you read no no but Gary Ann
can yeah Nikki can you play the piano no
but Gary Ann can Nikki can you dance no
but Gary Ann can I couldn't do anything
and what interested me is it never
bothered me it was like I don't have to
i got a big sister and what i can do is
watch so we in this room who are big
sisters know you should know that your
little sisters are watching they're
watching i wrote a poem for Martin
because Martin wasn't important man and
he was a good man and you sometimes
wonder and some of you one of you might
write a book what if he hadn't gone to
Memphis see we've never thought about
that I'm a big fan of people who do big
things I think it's important to do
important work but I'm also a big fan of
the people who didn't the people who
stayed home the people who did the every
day job I had a grandmother she didn't
have any money she graduated from Albany
Georgia Albany Normal School right she
married my grandfather and my
grandfather loved they fell in love with
she's a pretty woman and my grandfather
had been married he was a fish guy he'd
been married to a Spellman woman and
nothing wrong with that but once he saw
a grandmother that was that was it
and my parents had a troubled marriage
and that that's the nicest way I could
put it they had a troubled marriage and
I find a captain when I couldn't I
couldn't take it anymore you know if you
asked me what I was I doing at 11
o'clock at night I was listening to my
father hit my mother and it just got to
be a little bit more than I can handle
and so I went to visit grandmother and I
said to grandmother then I was like oh
you think I could live with you you know
you try to be casual about it and
grandmother was like you know I have to
talk to John Brown it was my grandfather
and I realized I was old before I
realized she never talked to anybody
about anything she ran that house but
grandmother cooked and grandpa wash
dishes because she said after the she
had three daughters after the girls
weren't sure I'm not doing it anymore
John Brown if you want the dishes work
you have to do it so he wash the dishes
when I went to live with them that
became of course my job but grandpa
would keep me company that's what I
wanted to share with you and he said the
kitchen was here and there was a dining
room table here and this is where we ate
and he would sit in there and he would
tell me stories all the time but one
time he said you know Nick a couple of
times actually he said you know Nicky I
only wanted to kiss your grandmother and
I don't care where grandmother was in
the house she could hear that and she
would say John Brown if I had let you
kiss me you would have never married me
and for the longest to be honest I
didn't understand I kissed her right why
wouldn't he get it was a metaphor
that's oh my goodness that's not what he
meant
which is wonderful but grandmother like
everybody you go to church on Sunday
she's a Baptist we were talking about
the AME but she was a Baptist and you go
to church on Sunday you get this this
this quarter and you have to put a
nickel in Sunday school yep you know you
have to put the nickel in church but
then you'd have something left over that
you could buy ice cream but those ladies
those women your grandparents and money
always somehow had a little Bank
someplace that they had two cents and
four cents they always had something and
they always ended up buying something
that you didn't think about and we had a
seller I don't know if any of you all
remember sellers but 400 Mulberry Street
had a seller and one day grandmother
said you know we have to go down and see
what's in the cellar well she knew what
was in the cellar I didn't but we went
down and we took things out the cellar
used to have cold but then once they
went to electricity you didn't need a
coal and once we did that we mama
recalled my great grandmother who was
the free child of slave parents and what
she had there wrapped up was a as a
mirror and nobody realizes that the
slaves never knew what they looked like
because they never had mirrors but
obviously mama Dee I think mama deer
stole the mirror but then how did you
steal a thing when you were stolen so
that's true so one of the things we I
still have it it's it's in my bathroom
we had a little mirror that mama deer
had and my grandmother gave it to me and
I intend to give it all things being
equal to my gran I have a granddaughter
and I intend to pass it along it's not
you know worth Anderson silver it is
silver but you think about the things
that our grandparents went through and
that's what I was saying you think about
the things and the pride that they had
in us as we went step by step by step
and Martin and I think this is a long
way and I'm sorry too but Martin had a
lot to do with watching how we did that
but the people who stayed the people who
were not the Frederick Douglass's of
this world the people who didn't do
things the people who got up everyday
and went out
even after slavery they were
sharecroppers they were not being paid
properly even today being underpaid you
need a union you need to join it and you
need to fight all of it you need to
fight for equal pay that's the truth but
the people who had I always think about
I live in Virginia I always think about
the child who had a peanut when the wars
because they were Wars you study African
he's treated it's nothing to be
embarrassed about his reality when they
lost when what whichever community lost
and the grandparents because the parents
aren't going to be that fine know that
they cannot protect their grandchildren
I always see a grandmother taking one of
the peanuts and putting it in the hands
of her grandson and saying to him
remember me because she knows that he's
going to be taken far far away he won't
be back and I can see him he's just an
ordinary boy who's going to be sold and
he's got to go through middle passage
and he's going to be sold again but he's
going to hold on somehow to that peanut
and when he finally gets to Virginia
he's gonna put it in the ground and
people are going to laughing because
people are fools and they're gonna say
to him we're gonna run tonight and he
said no this is my home I got to stay
they don't have any respect for that
peanut that he put in the ground that he
promised his grandmother so Virginia now
calls himself the peanut State that's
not what they were but they were is this
black boy had a promise to keep and he
kept it Virginia has a promise to keep
with the Constitution and they haven't
it's time that we think about that but
that boy did it and the peanut grew and
it grew we don't know him we don't know
what he did but he stayed and built a
home and the home was just a little
chair and he stayed and built a church
and found a woman to marry him and they
had children and he stayed and built a
school these are great people and it's
so easy to forget when you're black and
looking at television or something how
great the people we are which we are we
are a great we are the people who stayed
are as great I'm a big harriet tubman
fan I'm glad she was able I am I'm proud
of her but I'm glad for the people who
stayed the people who had to cut their
sons and their husbands and their
daughters down from trees who had to
wipe the sweat and spit off of him the
people who had to bring their daughters
home after they were being raped and had
to clean them up and had to try to say
it's alright baby I love you it's gonna
be alright
those are great people and it's
important that we remember this I wrote
a poem for Martin because Martin was a
great man but there were also the great
men that he went to Memphis to see about
and they're the ones who collected the
garbage they didn't get tipped nobody
thanked them for it
they didn't get paid enough they just
did their job every day and we have to
remember them this is a sacred point
blood has been shed to consecrate it
wash your hands remove your shoes bow
your head I have a dream that was a
magical time hi-ho silver away OC school
Oh Pancho here I come to save the day I
want the world to see what they did to
my boy no no no I'm not gonna move if we
are wrong then the Constitution of the
United States is wrong
Montgomery Birmingham Selma four little
girls
constant threats constant harassment
constant fear SCLC Ralph and Martin
father knows best Leave It to Beaver ed
Sullivan how long not long but what mr.
Thoreau said to mr. Emerson are you
doing out this is a letter from
Birmingham City Jail this is a eulogy
for Albany this is a water hose for
Aniston this is a thank you today in
NASH this is a bag for James farmer this
how can I make it without you to Ella
Baker this is for the red clay of
Georgia that yielded black men of
courage black men of vision black men of
hopes that bent over cotton or sweet
potatoes or pool tables and baseball
diamonds playing for a chance to live
free and breathe easy and have enough
money to take care of the folks they
love this is why we can't wait that's
swirling Mississippi win the Alabama
pine that Tennessee dusty finally the
clothes the women washed those hot wins
the lemonade couldn't cool that let the
women know we two must overcome this is
for Fannie Lou Hamer Jo Ann Robinson
septum--ah Clark Daisy Bates all the
women who said baby baby baby I know you
didn't mean to lose your job I know you
didn't mean to gamble the rent money I
know you didn't mean to hit me I know
the Lord is gonna make a way I know I'm
leaning on the everlasting arms how much
pressure does the earth exert on carbon
to make a diamond how long does the soil
push against the flesh molding molding
molding the moon that becomes a cry that
burst forth crystalline unbreakable
priceless incomparable mountain Martin I
made my vow to the Lord that I never
return back how much pressure does the
sins of the world press against the
heart of a man who becomes the voice of
his people he should have had a tattoo
you know freedom now or something like
that should have braided his hair
carried his pool cue in a mahogany case
well after that wonderful laugh over a
plate of skillet fried chicken drop
biscuits dandelion greens on the side
this is a sacred poem open your arms
turn your palms up feel the spirit of
greatness and be redeemed
yeah this is a silly point we my
feelings don't get hurt that often but
they do get hurt and I was looking at I
I do I think we should introduce my I
have seven and I'm not bragging about
this it's just reality I have seven
NAACP Awards right Image Awards I'm so
proud of that and I look at jeopardy
almost every night and we've been
writing into Alex and you know for the
longest Jeffrey didn't have anything but
white questions and it for those who you
looked you know and we've been saying oh
no you got to get some black questions
and you know so finally we they did they
did a whole thing on on the Image Awards
and when I heard that you know I'm
sitting at my table eating dinners image
would say oh wow you know I'm gonna be I
was thrilled you know cuz I know I had
to be something because I'm the only
person that has seven or you know and
they were asking questions and they were
ask you a question
I wasn't even a wrong answer I don't
mind admitting it actually I was hurt
and I went to my class the next day and
I said you know jeopardy did the image
awards I wasn't on it at all and they
were sent on Nicky we know we're glad we
don't want to see you know somebody
making a mistake on you or making you
feel foolish and I said but I'm I've
been on you know I keep thinking I
should be on I should be at least the
wrong answer on some of them damn shows
and they were saying no and I don't know
if you looked at Deal or No Deal
and I really always cheer against the
people because there's so damn greedy
and you're sitting well you know it's a
machine and they sitting there Deal or
No Deal
and they're always invariably you know
No Deal and then they end up with
nothing
and then like oh how did that happen cuz
you're a greedy food and so I got upset
about all of them I just dismissed the
class so y'all gone I don't want to see
what wasn't right and I went upstairs
oh I touched down I went upstairs and I
wrote a poem called Deal or No Deal it's
only fair but just in case my class
didn't know that they had hurt my
feelings it was for English 4714 and
just in case they weren't sure that it
was them I said see are in 169 37 just
so when their grandparent another
grandchildren a grand papa were you and
crn he's gonna have to admit yes damn it
I hurt her feelings
I wrote the point my class is not so
sure that I should apply to deal or no
deal they think I am lucky after all I
am teaching them they know I'm smart
they are for example learning yet they
don't want to see me make those greedy
mistakes and push beyond the envelope
the banker is neither friend nor foe
he's a machine - think you can beat him
is to think you will win at Vegas or
love but I persist my dream is a red
dress high above my heel my knees
high-heeled red sandals and me coming
over the top the music booming don't do
them doom doom doom dump didn't know
doom hi Hallie I will say with a lovely
smile you remember that
I don't want to play the game I want to
be it they were born 40 years after me
yet I am younger I know you cannot go
through life unless you are willing for
love or money to make a fool of yourself
where else does the ecstasy lie and I am
a a big fan of as you probably gathered
man I'm a big fan of black women and I
just think we're wonderful and I think
everybody should and I'm a big fan of
space travel and I'm really so sorry I
would say this to all of the youngsters
in the room don't smoke because if you
smoke you'll end up with lung cancer and
if you end up with lung cancer they're
gonna do I mean my left lung that my
doctor had to take my I kissed you
didn't have to but he did take my left
lung out and it's like okay I got to I
can handle that but then you get you
know breast cancer and Gregor is my
doctor's crazy and when I got the breast
cancer he wanted you know and if your
doctor talks really if you're a black
woman and you're walking to a doctor let
me just say this cuz I like all the
black one in the room know it the first
thing they say is you're eating too much
salt I don't give a damn what's wrong
with you getting too much salt and so I
went I I had a problem I was showering
you know you should shower and I felt
alone in the nested eyes nothing a
couple of days later doctor lump and
this is when you need a girlfriend you
can't call your boyfriend's because you
call your boyfriend say honey can you
come over and feel my tits well he'll
probably have something else in mind
and so yeah that's when you need a
girlfriend you call your girlfriend say
did you come over I need a favor you
know they
and she did and I said would you mind
you know just kind of filling there
right tit and she said yes something's
there and so we went to see the doctor
doctor name is Gregory and Gregory was
like you know it's probably not cancer I
said Gregory I am NOT lucky
now whatever else I did I'm not lucky
it's cancer now where do we go from
there cuz you know it's cancer you know
and so we checked it it was cancer and
he said well what would you like to do I
said Gregory I am the PhD you are the MD
I'm gonna pay you you're supposed to
tell me he said well Nikki to tell you
the truth you're 70 I was 75 then you're
75 years old and whatever you've done
you've done you're not gonna do it again
so get over that and if I were you I
would just take it off and I said take
it off kid you got to you know you get
the balance going in but you say I came
out here on the stage not one of you
said damn Nikki's missing
which was good because for any of us
that end up with breast cancer and you
think oh no I'm gonna look funny you're
not gonna look any funnier than you do
now
just go take care of it and go do what
what you have to do but the problem is
you can't go into space and I'm a space
reach and the reason you can't as you
know is that if you I can in fact go
into space I just can't come back
because when I come back into gravity my
organs will move around and it'll kill
me and the doctor Bowden is a friend of
mine and I really love him a lot and his
wife is Jackie and I said to him you
know I think for me the solution here is
why don't I go I'm 7776 now I'll be 77
in June I said why don't I pick a date
you know like if I'm lucky I'll live to
be 80 when I'm 80 why don't I go into
space because how much longer am I gonna
live any damn way and I'll be able to
tell you what I see you see what I'm
saying and then when I pass when I make
the transition just open the hatch drop
me out I'm dead anyway okay and you know
that's true and you all can look up some
nice some clear nicer damn
and I just want to encourage the
youngsters in this room to think about
space you got to go into space because
we black women particularly have been in
space we came from what we knew which
was Africa through what we didn't know
which is Middle Passage to what we
didn't know which is now going to be
called America so we are perfect because
we'll go and we'll go up to Mars and
somebody said well you don't know what
you're gonna find in Mars I didn't know
I was gonna find here and something I
did and somebody I said well you don't
know what they'll do to you either
I have a good idea cuz I know what's
been done and I know if a Martian rapes
me and I end up expecting this Martian
baby I know what I'll do because there's
nothing nice there's nothing nicer than
black women I will have it I will name
it and I will love it because I'm not
gonna be afraid of something that I have
so that most important person to get
into space is black women now people my
age we're too old but our grandchildren
have to begin begin to think about what
they're gonna do because they need you
you can see what's happening with Earth
and so it's time that we started to
think about let's go into space and our
children and our children's children
need to think about how they want to
handle that and I think it's fabulous
because I love science and I think it's
just the most wonderful thing in the
world that we're gonna send and that's
and we should black women are gonna go
up there and we'll call you we'll let
you know but we'll get to run the show
and that's what's important I wrote a
poem and I'd like to end on the I love
it so much
Scout stardate 186 to 8.1 900
I know I end up with all this crazy but
this is not a point this is hot
chocolate at the beginning of spring
topped with hand whip double cream a
splash of brandy to give it sense and
just a little cinnamon to give it class
this is not a poem this is a summer
quilt log-cabin pattern see that corner
piece that was grandmother's wedding
dress that was grand Papa's favorite
diet tie the white strip there is the
baby who died
mama had pneumonia so the red flannel
shows the healing this does not hang
from museum walls nor will it sell for
thousands this is here to keep me warm
this is not a sonnet though it will sing
precious Lord take my hand Amazing Grace
how sweet the sound go down Moses way
down to Egypt land go down to Marion
Anderson way up to the future it will
swell on the voice of Marion Anderson
looks on the areas of leontyne dance on
the trillings of battle do the dirty
dirty with Bessie rap its way into the
nineties and gone into space with Etta
James saying that lasts no this is not a
sonnet but the truth of the beauty that
the only authentic voice of planet Earth
comes from the black soil tilled in mind
by the daughters of the Diaspora this is
a rocking chair rocking me gently in the
bosom of Abraham this is a buff seat no
I'm not going to move today this is a
porch where they set spitting at
fireflies telling young Alex the story
of the African this is a hook rug to
cover a dirt floor this is an iron pact
with the with pork with leftover
vegetables making a slow cooking soup
this is pork simmering chitlins
surprising everybody with our ability to
make a way out of no way this is not
rest when we are weary nor comfort when
we are sad it is laughter when we are in
pain it is and in mind when we are
confused it is keep climbing child when
the road takes an unfair turn it is
don't let nobody turn you around when
the way is dark it is the faith of our
mothers who planted our hair put
vaseline on our faces polished our
rundown shoe
patched our dresses were sweaters so
that we could wear coats who welcomed us
and our children when we were left alone
to rear them who said get your education
and nobody can put you back this is not
a point no it is a celebration of the
roads we have traveled it is a prayer
for the roads to come this is an
explosion the original big bang that
makes the world a hopeful loving place
this is the black woman in all our
trouble and glory in all our past
history and future forbearance and all
that ever made level possibility this is
about us bleached and natural Braden and
straighten hair made up or beaten up
faces tall short stately bent CC riders
junkies whores wives mothers
grandmothers aunts working in the home
or outside working in the system or
outside working praying working to
survive giving pride giving succor
giving voice giving encouragement giving
whatever we can this is a flag we fly
that is placed over Peter Pan Salem and
Peter poor the 54th regiment from
Massachusetts all the men and women
lynched in the name of rape omit to
Medgar Evers Malcolm X Martin Luther
King jr. this is a banner we fly for
respect dignity the assumption of
integrity for a future generation to
rally around this is about us
celebrating ourselves and a
well-deserved honor it is this is a
bracket that's right
you
