Knoxville Tennessee I always like summer Best you can eat fresh corn From daddy's garden And

okra (ladys fingers) And greens And cabbage And lots of Barbeque And buttermilk And homemade ice-cream At the church icnic And listen to Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day &'on't look now I'm fading away Into the gray of my mornings "r the blues of e(ery night Is it that my nails kee breaking "r maybe the corn on my second little iggy )hings kee o ing out on my face or of my life It seems no matter how I try I become more difficult to hold I am not an easy woman to want )hey ha(e asked the sychiatrists sychologists oliticians and social workers *hat this decade will be known for )here is no doubt it is loneliness If loneliness were a gra e the wine would be (intage If it were a wood

!os el music "utside At the church #omecoming And go to the mountains with $our grandmother And go barefooted And be warm All the time %ot only when you go to bed And slee

the furniture would be mahogany But since it is life it is +otton +andy on a rainy day )he sweet soft essence of ossibility %e(er quite maturing I ha(e rided myself "n being in that great tradition albeit circus )hat the show must go on )hough in my community the (ernacular is "ne ,onkey 'on't -to the -how *e all line u at some midway oint )o thread our way through the boredom and futility .ooking for the blue ribbon and gold medal ,ostly these are seen as food labels *e are consumed by eo le who sing the same old song -)A$/ as sweet as you are in my corner "r erha s just a little bit longer But whate(er you do don't change baby baby don't change -omething needs to change

0(erything some say will change I need a change of ace face attitude and life )hough I long for my loneliness I know I need something "r someone1 "r11111 I strangle my words as easily as I do my tears

I stifle my screams as frequently as I flash my smile it means nothing I am cotton candy on a rainy day the unreali2ed dream of an idea unborn I share with the ainters the desire )o ut a three-dimensional icture "n a one-dimensional surface&

For the African American History Month, I chose to speak about two of Nikki Giovannis poems, Kno vi!!e "ennessee# an$ %otton %an$y on a &ainy 'ay#( Nikki Giovanni)*o!an$e %orne!ia Giovanni+ is an African American author, born ,une -th ./01, who has brou2ht a 2reat contribution to African American !iterature( 3he has written a 2reat $ea! of poems, re!evant to the con$ition of b!acks in times of persecution an$ se2re2ation( !io(anni e(en went through a rebellious hase back when she was in uni(ersity3 hase which3 howe(er3 only delayed the beginning of her writing career1 3he be2an writin2 artic!es for her schoo!s ma2a4ine, as we!! as si2nin2 up to participate in activities mana2e$ by various campus 2roups of stu$ents who were concerne$ by the status of African Americans in American society( 3ince then she has even set up her own pub!ishin2 company an$ has won severa! awar$s for her beneficia! activity throu2hout her career( 5ub!ishe$ in ./67, in 8!ack ,u$2ement#, Kno vi!!e "ennessee# $epicts a very co!ourfu! summer paintin2, featurin2 the many aspects of an African American chi!$s !ife( I be!ieve Nikki Giovanni wrote this whi!e thinkin2 of the happy $ays of her chi!$hoo$, rather than the sa$ness an$ se2re2ation she notice$ her race was the sub9ect of so very often( It is written from a rather optimistic point of view an$ $escribes the richness an$ beauty of summer, hee$!ess of anythin2 fou!, rin2in2 with every soun$ of 2ospe! hymns( As oppose$ to it, %otton %an$y on a &ainy 'ay#, pub!ishe$ in ./-6, in the homonymous co!!ection of poems, is a $arker, more mature composition, i!ustratin2 the con$ition of near!y comp!ete iso!ation( It reffers to the human bein2 as bein2 fra2i!e, weak an$ force$ to a$apt to the ever chan2in2 !ife, which sometimes is mean an$ crue!( A chan2e for the best is in nee$( :one!iness, the hi2h!i2ht of the $eca$e, accor$in2 to Giovanni, is compare$ to e!ements such as woo$ an$ 2rape on!y to be $eeme$ as !ife, in the en$( .ater in the oem3 !io(anni e4 resses her o inion regarding the fact that we all are the same3 always looking for recognition and acknowledgement1 )he end of the oem is a conclusion3 stating that the indi(idual is forced to become twofaced in the disfunctional world and that he does not lace (alue in anything but accom lishing his or her incom lete dreams3 ho es and goals1 I chose these two poems because I fee! that Nikki Giovanni strive$ to become a ta!ente$ author whi!e $ea!in2 with opressions an$ $iscrimination because she is African American an$ in these two poems it is c!ear!y shown that she can write both poems with a hi$$en, $eep meanin2 an$ !i2hter, more bri2hter poems( I myself consider that we should all ha(e equal rights des ite our race3 nation or se4uality1