Nikki Giovanni Dies at 81 After Battling with Cancer

Nikki Giovanni, a highly acclaimed African-American Poet died on 9th December 2024 at the age of 81 after struggling from cancer for years.  

The poet’s career spanned for more than 60 years, and she was known widely for her unique writing style and was one of the leading voices of the 1960s Black Arts movement, which landed her with fame and success.  

Giovanni, the award winning poet, is known for writing numerous books including A Good Cry, Bicycles, Chasing Utopia, and Love Poems. Her most recent book of poetry, Make Me Rain, was published in October 2020.  

How Nikki Giovanni Died?  

A close relative of Nikki Giovanni, revealed that the writer, was suffering from cancer from a long time and recently she was diagnosed with a third stage of cancer, which ultimately lead to her death.  

Notably, Giovanni was first diagnosed with lung cancer in the 1990s and underwent numerous surgeries to tackle the disease. The poet has also described her suffering and journey of tackling cancer in her book named ‘Her Book Blues: For All the Changes: New Poems” which was published in 1999.  

Throughout her battle with cancer, her family extended consistent support to her, which helped Giovanni in a faster recovery.  

Nikki Giovanni’s Legacy  

Over her illustrious career, the poet and writer named a whopping ‘62’ awards for her commendable contributions to literature.  

She was often called as the voice of Black and Africans for her consistent efforts, for the improvement of black lives in America. She initiated Civil Rights movement, Black Power movement and more, just to provide black people right to stand equal to the whites.  

While she was known widely for her role in creating racial equality, Nikki Giovanni also advocated for gender equality. Giovanni was the first to receive the Rosa L. Parks Women of Courage Award.  

While her legacy goes beyond imagination, her literature is more than just a piece of knowledge, its a movement for justice and humanity. Her work will continue to inspire generations to come and champion justice over discrimination and inequality.