Inspirational American Poem: Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni was born on 7 June 1947 in Knoxville, Tennessee. She is a world-renowned poet, writer, activist, educator, and commentator. Her spoken word recordings have received widespread recognition and honors, as well. Giovanni is also a Honorary Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, which I am also a proud member of!!!! ΔΣΘ

"Ego Tripping"

I was born in the Congo.
I walked to the Fertile Crescent and built the sphinx.
I designed a pyramid so tough that a star
that only glows every one hundred years falls
into the center giving divine perfect light. 
I am bad.

I sat on the throne
drinking nectar with Allah.
I got hot and sent an ice age to Europe
to cool my thirst.
My oldest daughter is Nefertiti.
The tears from my birth pains
created the Nile. 
I am a beautiful woman.

I gazed on the forest and burned
out the Sahara desert.
With a packet of goat's meat
and a change of clothes,
I crossed it in two hours.
I am a gazelle so swift,
so swift you can't catch me.

For a birthday present when he was three,
I gave my son Hannibal an elephant.
He gave me Rome for mother's day.
My strength flows ever on.

My son Noah built an ark and
I stood proudly at the helm
as we sailed on a soft summer day.
I turned myself into myself and was Jesus. 

Men intone my loving name.
All praises all praises,
I am the one who would save.

I sowed diamonds in my back yard.
My bowels deliver uranium.
The filings from my fingernails are
semi-precious jewels.

On a trip north,
I caught a cold and blew
my nose giving oil to the Arab world.
I am so hip even my errors are correct.
I sailed west to reach east and had to round off
the earth as I went.
The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid
across three continents. 

I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal.
I cannot be comprehended except by my permission.
I mean...I...can fly
like a bird in the sky…

Analysis of "Ego Tripping"

Written in 1973 during a time when many African-Americans participated in the Black Panther movement and were singing "I'm Black and I'm Proud," the poem "Ego Tripping" was meant to be an inspiration to this particular culture of people. The poem's central theme is self-pride and tries to encourage Blacks to embrace their natural beauty. This was also the period in which African-Americans began to wear dashikis and Afro hair styles in order to feel closer to their African heritage.