Nikki Giovanni Children: Meet her son, Thomas Watson Giovanni

Publish date: 2024-05-08
Nikki Giovanni Children: Meet her son, Thomas Watson Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. She is famously known as one of the world’s African-American poets. Her work includes poetry anthologies, poetry recordings, and nonfiction essays, and covers topics ranging from race and social issues to children’s literature. Nikki has won numerous awards, including the Langston Hughes Medal and the NAACP Image Award. She has also been nominated for a Grammy Award for her poetry album, The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection. Additionally, she has been named as one of Oprah Winfrey’s 25 “Living Legends”. In this post, we will take a look at her personal life including details about her son Thomas Watson Giovanni. How much do you know about Nikki Giovanni’s Children? Let’s find out more below.

Nikki Giovanni Biography

Giovanni was born on June 7, 1943, in Knoxville, Tennessee, to Yolande Cornelia Sr. and Jones “Gus” Giovanni. Her parents moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and again to Wyoming, Ohio in 1948. All these are a result of work her parents were then much involved in.

In 1958, Giovanni returned to Knoxville to live with her grandparents and attend Austin High School. In 1960, she began her studies at her grandfather’s alma mater, Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, as an “Early Entrant”, which meant that she could enrol in college without having finished high school first.

She immediately clashed with the Dean of Women, Ann Cheatam, and was expelled after neglecting to obtain the required permission from the Dean to leave campus and travel home for Thanksgiving break. Giovanni moved back to Knoxville, where she worked at a Walgreens drug store and helped care for her nephew, Christopher.

In 1964, Giovanni spoke with the new Dean of Women at Fisk University, Blanche McConnell Cowan (“Jackie”), who urged her to return to Fisk that fall. While at Fisk, Giovanni edited a student literary journal (titled Élan), reinstated the campus chapter of SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee), and published an essay in Negro Digest on gender questions in the Movement. In 1967, she graduated with honours with a B.A. degree in history.

Nikki Giovanni Career

In 1970, Nikki began making regular appearances on the television program Soul!, an entertainment/variety/talk show that promoted black art and culture and allowed political expression. She also published multiple poetry anthologies, and children’s books, and released spoken word albums from 1973 to 1987.

From 1987 to 2022, she taught writing and literature at Virginia Tech, where she was a University Distinguished Professor. She has also received the NAACP Image Award several times, received 20 honorary doctorates and various other awards, including the Rosa Parks and the Langston Hughes Award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts and Letters. Nikki also holds the key to several different cities, including Dallas, Miami, New York City, and Los Angeles. She is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star (PHA).

Nikki Giovanni Children: Meet her son, Thomas Watson Giovanni

Giovanni has a son named Thomas Watson Giovanni born in 1969. She however decided not to marry. She told Ebony Magazine that she wanted children but didn’t want to get married.

After the birth of her son, Giovanni was accused of setting a bad example because there were not many single moms at that time. Giovanni noted that the birth of her son helped her to realize that children have different interests and require different content than adults. This realization leads her to write six children’s books.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qLTBmqqeZpOkunC6yKSiomWXnry3rc2noGabmJ65pb7Ep2SmnZWpeqmx0WaqqKZdqbWwucCsZLCZpKi8r3nGoqavmZ6jtnA%3D