Smithsonian Folkways grieves the loss of poet, author, educator, and activist Nikki Giovanni, who passed away on December 9, 2024, at the age of 81. Giovanni recorded three albums for Folkways Records: The Reason I Like Chocolate and Other Children’s Poems (1976), Legacies (1976), and Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day (1978). Her influence on Black art and artistry throughout her long career is undeniable.

A key figure of the Black Arts Movement, Giovanni’s work was passionate and political, often including lyrical musings on gender inequality, racial justice, sexual liberation, and other issues that resonated with her experience as a Black single mother living in New York City in the 1960s. “I think of poetry as being autobiographical,” she writes, in the liner notes of her album Legacies. “We who write believe our poems.” Her conviction is evident throughout her work, and particularly typified in The Reason I Like Chocolate, where she emboldens children to pick their nose in the name of intellectualism and revels in the pleasures of cuddling up to a scary movie.

In the 1970s, Folkways became an increasingly prominent publisher of Black artists and thinkers, including Sarah Webster Fabio, Sonia Sanchez, and Angela Davis. Giovanni was proud to be a Folkways recording artist, and was excited to record for the label, recognizing what she called Folkways’ “special relationship to the spoken word.”

While she was best known for her poetry, Giovanni was also the author of several children’s books and the editor of many essay collections, consistently focusing on uplifting the writing and experiences of African American women. She embodied the role of an educator and public intellectual. Of note is her two-hour long conversation with James Baldwin, which aired on Soul!, a Black variety show, in 1971. They discuss and interrogate ideas that were at the forefront of public discourse in the 1970s: modern Blackness in the long shadow of its history, their generations’ perspectives on the role of religion in Black militant culture, and the importance of building a village to support a strong family. Their approach is imbued with love, intellectual vigor, and hope.

For her service to the arts, Giovanni was awarded the NAACP Image Award seven times and is the recipient of over 20 honorary degrees. She is survived by her wife, son, and granddaughter. Our grief is a testament to the hearts and intellects she touched in her long career.

Written by Matilda Marcus