Poem Analysis Of Ego Tripping By Nikki Giovanni

Eric Bleiler
Intro to Lit.
Dr. Constantine
Poetry Paper

In Nikki Giovanni’s Ego Tripping, the whole poem is describing a spiritual form of an illusion. She describes herself to be a divine being that has the speed of a gazelle and wings like a bird. This plays into the meaning behind the “ego” part of the title. There are many ways that the “tripping” is mentioned throughout the poem, such as building the sphinx, how she sits atop a throne, as well as receiving Rome as a gift from her son. She mentions that her oldest daughter is Nefertiti, and that her sons are Hannibal and Noah. All three of these are part of the “tripping,” as well, as they are describing her children to more of a higher power than they actually are. Nikki Giovanni is

Giovanni had spent time while in college writing for her school’s literary magazine. She states that she is against violence, so she joined became an active member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Giovanni’s work made her out to be the one of the most significant African American poets. Giovanni’s inspiration to write about the black movement began after the assassination of Malcolm X. Her first poetry collection, Black Feeling, Black Talk was released in 1968. Its success earned Giovanni the title as the chief poetic voice of the Black Arts Movement. This political movement didn’t accept current European art concepts, and instead thought that art should be beneficial towards African Americans. While in an interview, Giovanni describes this as how she felt about writing in the 1960’s:

"People say writers need experience. You don't need experience, you need empathy. It's so limiting to think that you have to go do something in order to write about it. It's important to raise our ability to empathize and listen. I don't need to be enslaved to write about

She felt that she was more than capable of raising her son on her own, along with the love that she could give to him. This began to factor into some of her work, as she began to write children’s books. This of which was used in her public readings and gave her the opportunity of writing albums in the form spoken word. One of her albums, was nominated for a Grammy.

Giovanni describes the Black Arts Movement as people who are comfortable in their own skin. She is a fan of the current hip-hop movement, as they were inspired by this movement. She believes that their music can be considered the modern equivalent of spirituals and their meaning to her generation of blacks. She believes that any type of artist or writer should focus on the aspects of their own culture. She mentions how Tupac gave all that he could give about his culture in his music, as well as his poetry. She also stated how Tupac had brought truth and he can be considered this generations Malcolm