NO ONE ASKED US :NIKKI GIOVANNI’S POETIC REWRITING OF (AFRICAN) AMERICAN HISTORY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/63xyd873Keywords:
Nikki Giovanni, Black Arts Movement, African American History, Dunning SchoolAbstract
Although Nikki Giovanni’s calls for “revolution” have often been interpreted as literal calls for militancy, recent scholarship has revealed that her idea of revolution had far more to do with spreading love within the Black community. Interestingly, one way Giovanni promoted this revolution of love was through rewriting American History, a field which had long been tainted by the racist myths and fabrications of the Dunning School. In her 1993 poem “But Since You Finally Asked”, Giovanni allowed the 20 slaves brought to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 to finally speak for the first time. She then spoke for the silenced black voices who were not invited to the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 in order to show that whereas the Founding Fathers merely “wrote” a constitution, the black Community “lived” one out. Whereas the Founding Fathers fought a war for the “revolution” for freedom, the Black community achieved equality and freedom through peace and love in the 20th century.
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