Nikki Giovanni – the acclaimed poet, activist and intellectual who rose to fame in the 1970s as a star of the Black Arts Movement ‒ always considered Cincinnati her home. "I know I was born in Knoxville,

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 groundbreaking poet, author, and professor whose work embodied the spirit of the Black Arts Movement and beyond, died on Monday in Blacksburg, Virginia. She was 81. Her wife, Virginia C.