Legendary poet and civil rights activist Nikki Giovanni died Monday. She got her start as a child growing up in Cincinnati's suburbs.

A key figure of the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and ’70s, the poet and activist is celebrated for her illuminating works touching on race, gender, and politics.

Nikki Giovanni, the poet, author, educator and public speaker who rose from borrowing money to release her first book to decades as a literary celebrity sharing her takes on everything from racism and love to space travel and mortality,