Friday, April 9, 2010

Blog 4 (part 2)

Nikki Rosa
"Nikki-Rosa" by Nikki Giovanni is about her life story. Its mostly focused on her childhood. She is expressing all the harm that has been done to her while growing up. According to the white person this was harm but she didn't see it that way. While the white folk would have pity on her she is expressing that she wouldn't have it any other way. She believes that wealth isn't happiness. Family is happiness, the bond within the family is worth more than money. But its just not any family its a "black family" or as she stated "black love". I believe it could've been political art because she is comparing the white aesthetic to the black aesthetic. The white would need the wealth, while she enjoyed her childhood even though she wasn't rich. But I don't think its literally about money I think its about that sense of content. She is happy that she was able to live her culture and didn't have to give in to the white way of life. She believes that "black love" is wealth. She is happy to be black because she has a different lifestyle and a different way of thinking. This relates to Neal's manifesto because he is stressing the fact that you need to destroy the white way of thinking and way of life. He wants a black artist to embrace their heritage. He believed that black artists should start researching their background and demonstrate it so the black community could be proud of their culture, rather than trying to be the white man.Giovanni embraces her culture and wouldn't change it. It seems like she pities the white folk because they cant never experience the real wealth which is "black love"

1 comment:

  1. Great reflections - I agree that Giovanni is responding to the tendency of many whites to see blacks and folks who aren't as well off in terms of problems to be solved rather than as people who have rich experiences in spite of or maybe even because of their challenges.

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