Notes
What I love best about this collection of poetry is Nikki’s unapologetically salute to being a young black person. NIkki Giovanni, my fellow Fiskite, breaks down the young black person’s experience in America and the beautiful, ugly realities that can come with that experience. She even shouts out Tupac and honors rap whereas someone of her generation don’t like rap like dat.
Each poems gives us a delicious slice of blackness in the yumm chocolaty fudgy pie of what it means to be black.
Themes
History
Blackness
Urban vs Rural
Graphics
The graphics were done by George Ford, and I absolutely love them.Thy are in black and white wiht an abstract flair that’s accessible for young people.
Other Thoughts
I think this would be a wonderful book to read alongside other poetry contrasting different people of color’s experience in America.
I actually made the mistake of reading this in a church youth group, forgetting that there are a few curse words in a few of the poems. (Eek!) The ‘bad’ language is not overwhelmingly, but just know it’s there. I think it’s good to expose kids to different language. Another great thing about this book is Virginia Hamilton, my play auntie in my mind, wrote the foreward (link to VH)
Favorite Poems in the Collection
Some of my favorites are “Knoxville,” “Revolutionary Dreams,” “Langston Hughes,” “Beautiful Black Men” (Put page number) and of course, “Ego-Trippin’,” the title poem
I then read “Ego Trippin'” followed by “Revolutionary Dreams.”
Purchase Ego-Trippin’ here.
Watch the next video here: http://www.gcdenwiddie.com/vintage-hughes-by-langston-hughes
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