How did Nikki Giovanni die? Health struggles explored as acclaimed poet passes away at 81

Poet and activist Nikki Giovanni, often called the Princess of Black Poetry, has died at the age of 81. Fellow rhymist Kwame Alexander, in a statement to NPR, confirmed the news, adding she died on Monday, December 9, 2024, at a hospital in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Per the statement, Giovanni died following her third cancer diagnosis. Alexander wrote:

"We will forever be grateful for the unconditional time she gave to us, to all her literary children across the writerly world."

Giovanni (born Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni Jr.) was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, to Yolande Cornelia Sr. and Jones "Gus" Giovanni (her sister gave her the nickname Nikki). She grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and attended Fisk University, a historically Black school in Nashville, Tennessee, where she met leading Black literary figures like Dudley Randall, Margaret Walker, and Amiri Baraka.

She rose to fame in the 1960s as a prominent author during the Black Arts Movement and the Civil Rights Movement. Over her five-decade-long career, Nikki has authored poetry anthologies, poetry recordings, and nonfiction essays on topics like Black identity, social justice, race, and children's literature.

In a poem, I Am in Mexico, from her 2007 collection Acolytes, she wrote:

"Me, I only wanted to be a voice. Coming as I do from a voiceless people, a people who were denied freedom, a language, an education; coming as I do from a people who had only song with which to tell our story and a poem with which to dream... I wanted to be a voice."

Some of Nikki Giovanni's works include Black Feeling, Black Talk, Chasing Utopia: A Hybrid, Rosa, Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat, and Racism 101.

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Nikki Giovanni's mother and sister died from lung cancer

Nikki Giovanni has battled cancer since the early 1990s. According to Giovanni's biography on her website, she was first diagnosed with lung cancer in January 1995. Wanting a second opinion, she traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she eventually had surgery at the Jewish Hospital.

Giovanni's profile on Encyclopedia.com states that she had to have several of her ribs and part of her lung removed to stop the cancer from spreading. Following the cancer diagnosis, the poet gave up smoking.

Nikki Giovanni's profile on Black History of America, a website dedicated to profiling notable African Americans, stated that both her mother and sister died of lung cancer. Quoting Giovanni, the publication wrote:

"If it takes a near-death experience for you to appreciate your life, you're wasting somebody's time."

Nikki's family, too, was diagnosed with cancer. According to her biography on her website, her father had a stroke and was subsequently diagnosed with cancer in 1978. She moved to Cincinnati along with her son to care for her parents. This led to her devoting more time to public speaking and less to her writing. Her father died in June 1982.

Critics and fans believe she took to teaching to stay in a stable environment due to cancer. However, Encyclopedia.com, citing her interview with Publishers Weekly, reported that Nikki Giovanni believed teaching was inevitable for her.

"If you’re a poet you are trying to teach. I think being in a classroom keeps you up to date. I think that you’d miss a lot if all you did was meet other writers; if you never saw another generation," Nikki said.

Nikki Giovanni began teaching as the University Distinguished Professor in the English Department at Virginia Tech in 1989. She taught for over three decades till 2022. According to a December 2024 article by The Washington Post, Giovanni was recruited by an English professor, Virginia “Ginney” Fowler, who would later become her wife.

Following the 2007 shooting at the university that left 32 dead, Nikki Giovanni told NPR:

"Killing is a lack of creation. It's a lack of imagination. It's a lack of understanding who you are and your place in the world. Life is an interesting and a good idea."

In 1999, Nikki Giovanni published another volume of poetry titled Blues: For All the Changes: New Poems. Several poems in the book addressed the nature of the disease and her battle with cancer. In her 2007 book Acolytes, she spoke about her being a cancer survivor.

Encyclopedia.com, citing her interview with Jet Magazine, reported that Giovanni rediscovered her love for poetry through her struggles, quoting:

"You get this tumor and you don’t die, so you feel you have this mission."

In 2005, Giovanni wrote an introduction to the book Breaking the Silence: Inspirational Stories of Black Cancer Survivors.

Following her 81st birthday, Nikki Giovanni gave an interview to Rachel Martin of WSHU Public Radio. During her discussion, the poet revealed she was previously diagnosed with breast cancer. She admitted that cancer taught her patience.

"I don't want to be sitting in hell, and have people say "she fought cancer for 20 years." I'm not fighting any disease. I'm learning to live with it. And I want the disease to live with me. So every morning that I wake up, me and cancer, we're in good shape," she said.

Despite her cancer diagnosis, Giovanni kept working in her final days. Just three weeks before her death, she performed with saxophonist Javon Jackson for an event at the Louis Armstrong House in Queens, New York. Her book, The Last Book, is set to be published posthumously next year.

Nikki's work has earned her numerous awards and honors, including the Langston Hughes Medal, several Woman of the Year awards, and seven NAACP Image Awards. In 2005, she was named one of Oprah Winfrey's 25 Living Legends.

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Nikki Giovanni is survived by Fowler, her son Thomas Watson Giovanni, and a granddaughter, Kai Giovanni; two cousins, Haynes Ford and Allison Ragan; and a nephew, Christopher Black.