'I can be a phenomenal Black woman': Nikki Giovanni's decades of work inspires artists

When LaKeisha Fears-Perez was a little girl attending Sarah Moore Greene Elementary School in Knoxville, the written word was her comfort. She put all her thoughts and feelings into poems she jotted down in journals.

“It was something beautiful that came from within me that didn't have to be critiqued,” she told Knox News.

She developed a deep connection to the work of Nikki Giovanni, the poet, author and activist who often writes about the same Knoxville she knows so well. Giovanni's writings inspired Fears-Perez to not only continue writing but to delve deeper into different art forms like painting, dance and theater.

“It allowed me to move beyond my circumstances and it allowed me to see that there are great possibilities,” she said.

“Knowing that she was born in Knoxville … (made) you feel like ‘I can do this too. I can be more than just. I will be beyond my circumstances. I can be a phenomenal Black woman. I'm OK in my skin. I am a beautiful human being.'”

'Because I just love it': Nikki Giovanni celebrates 80 years with Knoxville on her heart

The simple joy in writing she found as a young girl continues on a greater scale into adulthood. Fears-Perez is doing her part to inspire others as Giovanni inspired her. Through child care and art therapy programs, she helps children and adults express themselves through poetry, visual and performing arts, music, and athletics. Many of her events are at her home or churches.

She's part of a group in Knoxville that has organized poetry slams, open mic nights and art auctions.

“I think what we're doing now is just trying to live her legacy, to do the best for the greater with what we have,” she said. “We just don't stop.”

Physical reminders of Giovanni's time in Knoxville

Giovanni is honored with a historical marker that stands in front of Cal Johnson Recreation Center on Hall of Fame Drive. The plaque acknowledges her family ties to what used to be called Mulvaney Street, its significance, and her legacy as the “Princess of Black Poetry.”

Giovanni – who turns 80 this June – has left a mark on Knoxville, but the force of her impact extends well beyond the historical plaque that bears her name.

Renee Kesler, executive director of Beck Cultural Exchange Center, Knoxville’s hub for Black history and culture, calls Giovanni a friend. She met the poet in the early 2000s and says she “unquestionably” and “undeniably” has been inspired by her work and friendship.

Giovanni always makes a stop at the Beck Center when she visits Knoxville. She recently sent 47 boxes of her personal history to be preserved at the cultural center.

“For me, that's the ultimate compliment because she knows that we're going to be good stewards of the resources she's entrusted to us and that this is her home,” Kesler told Knox News. “We will honor her legacy for generations.”

The exhibit will also honor her family, including her beloved grandparents, “who really left an indomitable mark on this community,” Kesler noted.

“They were community-minded people. They were educators. They were advocates. They were community folks," she explained. “It feels natural that we would celebrate that.”

Giovanni's waves of influence

Giovanni’s literary work and her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement are felt throughout Knoxville, especially to the community where the historical marker stands. For those who visit Cal Johnson Park and Recreation Center, the plaque is a beacon of hope and makes Giovanni “touchable,” Kesler said.

“It's one thing to say someone on the national stage was a great literary person, a great artist, a great cultural icon. … (But) it's a whole other level to say I look up to someone who literally was born in my backyard, who came from right where I came from,” Kesler explained.

Fears-Perez said Giovanni’s drive to shine a spotlight on Black culture and experience is evident today in programming put on by other local organizations such as the Carpetbag Theatre, The Bottom community space, Alex Haley Farm in Clinton and Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market.

“What Nikki Giovanni did, she created a fantastic foundation,” Fears-Perez said. “And now each person that looks at her is adding to the foundation and making improvements.”

Fears-Perez was involved in the creation of the “Love is the Answer” mural behind the Change Center on Harriet Tubman Street. The mural commemorates 25 people who died due to gun violence before the age of 20.

She compares the intention behind the mural to Giovanni’s “A Good Cry” (2017), a collection of poems that reflect on the joys and pain of her life and the people who shaped it.

“Even though we have been through the struggle and those parents have lost their children, where do we go from here? How do we evolve from it? How do we make this alley where these faces are on the wall, how do we transform it to a healing place?” she said.

Carrying Giovanni’s legacy forward

Fears-Perez and Kesler both say it’s important to carry the torch of Giovanni’s legacy.

“She gives this generation and the generations to come permission to lift their voice. For so long, much of Black history and culture has been silenced,” Kesler said.

For those of all ages who have been moved by her poems and essays about Knoxville, or inspired by the ease with which she shared her authentic self, Giovanni's effect on our corner of the world is both wide and deep.

“She has already set a bar that quite possibly may never be attained, but it is certainly something for which we could all strive,” Kesler added.

Honoring Giovanni’s 80^th birthday

Yolande "Nikki" Giovanni was born June 7, 1943, in Knoxville. Filled with writing on topics such as race, gender, sexuality and social justice, her illustrious career has earned her numerous accolades, including being named one of Oprah Winfrey’s living legends.

She contributed to the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Arts Movement. She was friends with the greats such as James Baldwin and Nina Simone. She even mingled with a few royals.

Though she’s seen it all and done it all, she’s never forgotten Knoxville. And she’s not finished. Her next work, entitled "A Street Called Mulvaney," is set to be released in 2024.

“I love Nikki Giovanni, and I want to make her proud,” Kesler continued. “Her 80th birthday is a moment of reflection for me to be able to say, ‘Yeah. I want to be just like her when I grow up.’”

Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter. Email devarrick.turner@knoxnews.com. Twitter @dturner1208.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Nikki Giovanni’s deep influence on culture and creativity in Knoxville