Nikki Giovanni (1943 – 2024), the renowned poet and writer whose literary work came to the forefront of the Black Arts Movement of the 60s, was interviewed by Boston’s local station WGBH on Dec. 12, 1975 about her career as a poet. In this excerpt from her interview with the station’s program called “Say Brother,” Giovanni shares her poem “My House” and explains what she feels is missing — and required — from Black artists, specifically young Black writers who desired to become published poets and authors.

“MY HOUSE”

I only want to be there to kiss you as you want to be kissed,

when you need to be kissed,

where I want to kiss you,

because it’s my house and I plan to live in it.

I really need to hug you,

when I want to help you as you like to hug me.

Does this sound like a silly poem?

I mean it’s my house,

and our fried pork chops,

and baked sweet potatoes,

and call them yams,

cuz I run the kitchen and I can stand the heat.

I spent all winter in carpet stores gathering patches so I could make a quilt.

Does this really sound like a silly poem?

I mean I want to keep you warm,

and my windows might be dirty,

but it’s my house,

and if I can’t see out sometimes,

they can’t see in either.

English isn’t a good language to communicate in.

Mostly I would imagine because people try to speak English instead of trying to speak through it.

I don’t know, maybe this is a silly poem.

I’m saying it’s my house,

and I’ll make fudge,

and call it love,

and touch my lips to the chocolate warmth,

and smile at old men,

and call that revolution,

because what’s real is really real,

and I still like men in tight pants,

cuz everybody has something to give,

and more important needs something to take,

and this is my house,

and you make me happy,

so this is your poem.

Excerpt from WGBH “Say Brother” Interview

I think in the 60s, one of the things you found was that there were the beginning of the so-called Black culture movement. There were a number of poets who were feeding into and out of each other and as more and more people began to think they were God in their various names and and ranks, less than those people began to write poetry, and I think that I would really question there’s no poetry movement of the 70s at all that anyone can speak of in any way shape or form. As a matter of fact, I think that pretty much the 60s killed it off because people begin to think that one poem could free the world. I think it was a very destructive effect. It was a bore first of all, and they tended not to encourage other young people. I think that it’s disgraceful that we came to the 60s and we have so few young poets available today. They just aren’t there.

I think, first of all, it’s important for people to write. There is this tendency among Black youngsters to be poets without having ever written a poem, let alone thought about getting it published. I think that you have to write if you’re going to be a poet then you have to let somebody know that you do that. It is not sufficient to have 300 poems at home that you’ve written over the last 30 years, you really sort of have to get that out and I think that’s important. I think that you have to speak English that is very important because so many of our kids communicate with ‘mmm mmm yeah man you dig…’ And who the hell knows what they’re saying. You really have to use the language. You can bend it, you can change it, you can add and subtract but you really have to have a language and that means you know basic noun, verb, pronoun, adjective, sentence, you know. At the end of paragraph begins a new one.

I think that you have to have some basic skills, and I think that one of the things that a lot of youngsters really took to heart probably because of laziness was that you know just being Black was cool and you don’t have to read anything, you don’t have to go any place, you don’t have to do anything, all you should do is be Black and talk about your life… “man, I lived that,” but just because you did doesn’t mean you can express it, that you can actually share it. It doesn’t make a poem, I mean your life does not make a novel, doesn’t even make a biography. If subject is just not interesting and you have to face that too.

Everybody’s not a poet or a writer. I don’t mean to be harsh, it’s just that it’s a fact. We really do have to get down into basic skills because I do think a lot of people have latent talents but latency is just that, it has to be developed and it really has to be worked on. And I think that we should be encouraging those kids to you know go to school, stay in school, and for Christ’s sake to read a lot. I don’t want… I’m not what you call successful at this point, I’m just well known and I always make a difference between that. I account for my exposure because I was a part of the 60s and that was a time of high visibility. I’m probably one of those but you know they would the idea whose time has come you know I was I happen to be at the right place at the right time and I was probably just pretty lucky in terms of visibility.

I did publish myself my first two books like “Black feeling, Black talk, Black Judgment.” I published my second book I published a Brooklyn poet named May Jackson and a book called “Can I Poet With You,” and I published an anthology called “Night Comes Softly,” which was an anthology of Black women poets. Then I of course I went bankrupt, I just absolutely ran out of money because I didn’t have any capitalization, so I got a distribution arrangement with Broadside Press at that point and with William Morrow Company and they’re now publishers of mine.

But I started out the same way that I’m telling you, I mean I said that’s what I believe in. It’s not the easiest way but on the other hand it’s the best way because artists as a rule tend to think that somebody ought to do something for them, and I don’t believe that. I think that as a rule is your work it is your responsibility to get it out. And I think a lot of young artists think well “I’m gonna send my manuscript in to a publisher and I’m gonna be a hit” and they don’t realize that that’s a hell of a long if I may process that you really do have to do it yourself nobody does it for you. Nobody has. Nobody will.