"I am delighted to be in the middle of nowhere," were the first of many comical words spoken by Nikki Giovanni, an African American poet, writer and feminist, during a speech titled "Racism 101" held Saturday night.
The speech in Webster Hall, which was attended by about 400 people, was part of a series titled "Celebrating Our Heritage: Exploring Our Multiple Identities," sponsored by the African American Society.
Despite its title, Giovanni's speech was anything but classroom oriented. From her first words, which prompted a roar of laughter from the crowd, to the end of her speech, Giovanni charmed the audience with her comical wit and her "tell it like it is" attitude.
Giovanni spoke to students about the importance of creating happiness in the 21st century. "It will be a failure of your life if all you do is make money," Giovanni warned. She encouraged students to do something meaningful and to create something beautiful. "You're not gonna be rich, but you're gonna be happy," she said.
Giovanni spoke about the important role of the coming generation. "I get tired of hearing your generation whine about what you don't have," Giovanni said.
"The very nature of being in college is a privilege," she said. Giovanni challenged students to "contemplate human nature," because "we can't go into the 21st century with the same stupidity we went into the 20th or the 19th or the 18th."
Giovanni then turned to the health care issue. She was asked to speak to the American Medical Association earlier this year.
Giovanni proposed a "capitalist's solution" to the problems of health care: she suggested the government give each state 10 medical scholarships per year, through which each recipient would be completely covered through college, medical school, residency and internship.
According to Giovanni, fewer doctors would go into specialty, because they would have no loans to pay off, and it would create a more equal distribution of doctors. "Californians would be flocking to South Dakota," Giovanni said, "to combat monopoly in the field."
Giovanni also tackled the issue of homelessness. "We act like we think they chose that life," she said with disdain. "When you pass a person lying on the street the least you could do is say hello, how are you?"
She acknowledged that we may not have the solution to solve the homeless tragedy, but we do have the human capacity to be kind.
Giovanni also expressed disappointment in the lack of stories depicting the lives of African American people.
"When it's my story, it's not universal, it's not good enough?" she questioned.
Giovanni said there is not one story which portrays the lives of all African Americans. "Black people must realize that there is diversity in our own communities," she said.
The author has been nicknamed "The Princess of Black Poetry." She has published close to 20 books, made six albums and had a movie made of her work.
Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tenn. in 1943. She graduated Fisk University Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree in history. Currently, she is a professor at Virginia Polytechnical Institute and has just published a compilation of essays titled Racism 101.
