Nikki Giovanni remembers the time she met Queen Elizabeth, and found something in common
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Literary icon and East Tennessee native Nikki Giovanni has vivid memories of her time meeting the late Queen Elizabeth II, saying that – even as a 5-foot-2 woman herself – she was struck that she towered over the diminutive queen.
At 4-foot-11, the queen had no choice but to look up at her.
On a 2020 episode of the Black in Appalachia podcast, an East Tennessee PBS production centering African American history in the region, Giovanni explained how the queen asked to speak to her.
"I could stand over Queen Elizabeth, just a smidgen, just to get into her space, and it made her look up. I said, 'Ma'am (because I'm polite) we have something in common.' And I'll never forget that, 'Oh?' – I'll never forget that," Giovanni joked.
Giovanni shared that she was a graduate of the historically Black Fisk University in Nashville.
Read her incredible history: Queen Elizabeth II dies at 96; Prince Charles takes the throne as king
"Your great-grandmother was one of the people who helped to keep this university going, helped keep it alive. And ... it's called the Jubilee Singers because of your great-grandmother," she said.
"So she smiled, 'Oh!'"
In 1873, the American student acapella ensemble performed at Buckingham Palace for Queen Victoria. They reportedly sang spirituals at Queen Victoria's request including "Swing Low Sweet Chariot."
It was this performance that opened doors for the Fisk Singers after impressing her with their lauded vocals, earning them invitations to perform across England.
The funds collected from their tours amounted to enough to keep Fisk University open and funded Jubilee Hall, the college's signature building and the first permanent structure built for the education of Black students in the South.
A life-sized portrait of the 11 Fisk Jubilee Singers who toured England in the 1870s can be found in Jubilee Hall. It was painted by British artist Edmund Havell.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Nikki Giovanni on her time with Queen Elizabeth touting Fisk University
