As we all know, Georgia Southern has many different events and shows to attend weekly. The events vary from listening to poets speak to even former NFL players telling their background stories. Mid-January it was said that Nikki Giovanni would be a guest speaker for the University’s 2017 MLK Celebration.
A friend of mine was super psyched about the event, while I on the other hand was just like “Okay?” As a friend should, I went with her alongside to the event. Now, let’s pause here for a moment. Before attending the event I swore that it would just be a boring old lady speaking about her lengthy life. I WAS COMPLETELY WRONG.
On January 18, 2017, we arrived at the event exactly at 7pm which that was a lesson itself. Although, I was completely unconcerned about the event, majority of the campus was not. It was packed in the room in which it was originally said to be held in. We were led to a room that displayed a live recording of the poet; which was also pretty packed.
Nikki Giovanni did not speak to us as if she was told to. We all know how it feels to listen to someone tell their boring stories, just because they were subject to do so. Giovanni interpreted several stories and began to read a few of her great poems. In the midst of everything she also spoke about the importance of black women in this world, and even a bit on politics. Although she stepped on a few of the audience member’s toes, I loved every bit of it! She was completely uncensored, and that may have been what I loved most! The audience laughed together, clapped uncontrollably, and listened in amazement. The event opened my eyes to her poems and led me to conduct research on the African American poet. I fell in love with a couple of her poems, my favorite happens to be Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day. I highly recommend that you take the time to read a few of her writings.
Even though we all have quite busy schedules, try fitting in a few of the events hosted by Georgia Southern. Click the following link to view a list of events that will be hosted during the Spring 2017 semester, http://calendar.georgiasouthern.edu/.