After reading the creative works of the VT student and mass killer Cho Seung Hui, and then reading the works of his star VT professor Nikki Giovanni, it is very reasonable to consider the similarity in violence each created in their minds, onto paper, and in Cho’s case, through a killing spree we shall not soon forget.
I confess that I know little of Ms. Giovanni, other than her fame as a poetic voice of the sixties. But if Cho spent anytime reading his famous professor’s works, which would not be unreasonable, he found, as I did, quite a glimpse of thoughts of violence, murder and mayhem to tickle his sick mind.
I am not saying the noted professor caused Cho to go on his rampage, but the word ‘inspire’ would not be an unfair consideration, in light of the death and injury toll. The consideration is particularly appropriate as she proudly whips out her ‘thuglife’ tattoo, displaying to her impressionable students and the world, the up to date bridge of solidarity she sought with murdered gansta-rapper Tupac Shakur.
In an interview in 2004 with Brian Lamb, she compares Tupac to Emmett Till, a black boy killed in 1955 by Mississippi whites, for allegedly whistling at a white women. She says, “…I wanted to share with the generation a loss, because Tupac was this generation`s Emmett Till”. Say what? Excuse me, but wasn’t Till killed by racist white men, while Tupac, on the other hand, was killed by murderous men, like himself, who extolled violence as a way of living and dying?
If Ms. Giovanni wants to live ‘phat’ as she might say on the lecture fees of dishing memories of the sixties, this is fine with me, but no way in hell should she be ‘teaching’ kids. VT leadership, lawyers, and risk management advisers have to be hoping and praying that the families of the dead and injured never read Ms. Giovanni’s web site, which points the way to selected works, and more.
James C. Collier
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Technorati Tags: Acting White: Nikki Giovanni's Eyes Wide Shut, Cho Seung Hui, Virginia Tech, Racism, Tupac Shakur, Acting White
19 comments:
This is interesting. I will admit that I know of Giovanni, but not much.
As a young black male (31 y/o), it still amazes me how people in my generation and a few other older folk glorify and look up to Tupac. I have almost been beat down, for having debates on the relevance of Tupac. To me he was a confused man who got caught up in thug culture. I just don't get it. He wasn't on the level of Dr. King or Malcolm X, or Carmichael.
Some call Tupac a "Thug Angel" and Michael Eric Dyson has called Tupac a "hip-Hop" prophet. For Giovanni to compare Tupac to Tills is way off. Tupac was killed by racist white people.
James I'm a little slow.
Help me understand why she shouldn't be teaching kids.
I looked at her website, and other than the tat you mention I didn't see anything too outrageous.
Granted I haven't read anything of hers.
"
Some call Tupac a "Thug Angel" and Michael Eric Dyson has called Tupac a "hip-Hop" prophet. For Giovanni to compare Tupac to Tills is way off. Tupac was killed by racist white people. "
mark bey: I agree Tupac although I love Tupacs music (not the negative stuff) he was spewing lot of destructive messages in his music. Native is correct, Tupac enjoyed rights Emitt Till never had and also as you said Tupac was killed by another black man which makes the to completely different.
Mr. Collier,
I would like to address your decision to moderate the comments on your blog. By requiring your approval to any potential comment to a post of yours, it seems to me a suggestion that you are not interesting in opening a space for dialogue amongst perspectives different from your own. Indeed, many of the comments to your posts seems to be self-affirming and lack the objective of challenging, contesting, or engaging any of the claims you make in your original posts. Of course, how you operate your blog is your prerogative, but I respectfully encourage you to provide a space for healthy and productive discussion beyond agreements with your own ideas. Don't hesitate to be challenged.
Josh, thanks for your comment. Consider that there are uses of the moderate function beyond censorship. I do not approve or disapprove responses. I publish all comments, with the following caveats. No profanity, and no gratuitous name-calling. Until blogger comes up with a way to filter under these rules, I will carry this out manually. Dissenters are more than welcome, and I look forward to hearing from you, if you like.
Yeah, James, hat's pretty disturbing and you are correct not much different from Cho. I understand why you said the Admin must be hoping and praying. They along with the rest of the State officials. Scary stuff, our kids are exposed to in the name of "higher learning."
Thank you for helping me understand.
Anyone have any info on how many speaking engagements NG has been offered since the VT tragedy.
This may be the windfall NG has waited all her life for.
I wonder if she'll donate the money to the families or to mental health care?
Or will she just get another "thug life" tattoo?
I'm shocked. I too knew of Nikki Giovanni (and used one of her love poems as a basis for one of my poems for an assignment in college eons ago), and didn't know she was into that thug culture.
I did not know.
See this video that asks if Cho was inspired by Giovanni.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5mFY2o4v_I
Well, just announced at the VT tragedy press conference in Roanoke VA today, Cho sent a "rambling" letter to the VT English dept, just before the rampage.
Hmmmm! Any evidence now of Giovanni's effect?
James, Thought who would enjoy this news flash.
http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/story.php?relyear=2007&itemno=476
Becca: I appreciate your analysis, but it is incomplete. You selected certain portions of the poem to emphasize while ignoring the rest. I welcome you to review the entire work. And please reconcile NG's 'Thug Life' tattoo and supporting words for people who extol living and dieing violently by their own. BTW, NG grew up as a child of Black middle-class privilege, per my former spouse who had her as a prof. at Fisk.
When I heard that Cho had admired the works of Nikki Giovanni and attempted to make a connection to her, it seemed to me that she missed an intervention opportunity.
As a free speech advocate, I don't take issue with her so-called "thug life" writings and affinity for Tupac. However, I do take issue with her "celebrity status" and apparent "professor arrogance" by not making a better attempt at getting the young man the help he needed.
Anyone who spent more than 10 minutes with Cho would have probably known he was in crisis (and mentally and/or emotionally unstable). Cho was disappointed by someone who he idolized and that final disappointment sent him over the edge.
I lost a lot of respect for her after the VT incident.
James, I came across your blog today while researching Nikki Giovanni. My concern with her is the following: "I was willing to resign before I would continue with him [Cho, in her class]," she told CNN. This is small thinking. Did she not have the power to act and have the student Cho removed from the school? She is considered an "activist," but for whom? Herself, and the comfortable bubble she lives in? At Virginia Tech she is listed as "Distinguished Professor." If Cho was so terrifying, why did Giovanni and Roy passively hold their breaths waiting for the bomb to drop. (I refuse to believe the university's polices are writ in stone.) I am as disappointed as the rest that she is rewarded with "silver" while there are these absurd inconsistencies in who she is. At the end of the day, she remains an academic--a thinker, not a doer, and certainly not an activist.
I'll look forward to reading your book when it comes out.
Nikki Giovanni is a racist. It is interesting how light-skinned she is; does this cause her to be even more radical in her cause? In my opinion she was culpable in the mass murder by Cho, and it is insulting to any respectable human being that she was the speaker at VT after this tragedy. Look how she treated this kid? This "lady" is disgusting; she should actually be sued in a civil suit.
I suppose that in order to understand the work of Nikki Giovanni, you would have to understand the Black Arts Movement and the struggles of the era. It wasn't just her writing about being a "Nigger" and about "killing the Honkie" there is a whole cannon of black artwork which was totally warranted and long past due for the impact it had on Black Revolution. You have to think of Gil Scott-Heron, Kalamu Ya Salaam, and Amiri Baraka, who lived through the racism and blatant disrespect for young blacks during that time. It was a liberation era, and liberation calls for violent resistance. Cho was not a young man of color fighting for revolution he wasn't this age's Huey Newton or Che Guevera he was a deranged young man who couldn't handle the pressures of life. You can't compare the two. To do so would be to dismiss history and that would be reckless. And as far as glorifying Tupac Shakur, if you've read any of his earlier work or even listened to more than simply the choruses of that in his later age you would understand why most rappers don't look up to him as a gangster rapper, but as one who was more conscious than any politico of the 90's, and his lyrics have as much resemblance to those of the Black Power and Arts Movements than any politically aware emcee in the game. So before you take snippets of information and use it out of context understand that everyones art and expression does not produce the same outcome and doesn't always come from the same place. -Patience
patience: if what you say is true, and your eloquence alone could inform the prof., she has done Tupac a disservice. It is she, in your so-called snippets, who says she would rather hang out with 'thugs' like Tupac. The picture she paints when she calls him a thug and sports the thug-life tatoo is one of senseless black-on-black violence. He may have had another side, but this is not the one she chooses to extoll on her website. The analogy she drew of him with Emmett Till was dribble. The context she presents of Tupac is her responsibility. I have no doubt that he had good in his work, but as you imply, some of what he had to say was consistent with the way he died, and there is nothing good about that. Giovanni is making sure he is remembered for the least of his contributions. Thanks/JC
I was a student in one of Nikki Giovanni's about 15 years ago. I took the course as an English elective and was stunned when, on the first day of class, she said that if you were white, then the best you could expect from her class was a 3.0. Apparently, white people like myself can't understand the pain, suffering and struggle that a "person of color" goes through everyday, therefore we would be unable to get the full impact of her course. I dropped the class after the first day and mentioned the incident to my class counselor, who advised me not to follow up on the incident, since Ms. Giovanni was a "distinguished professor" at Virginia Tech and the incident would almost certainly be ignored or glossed over. Since I was at the university on a scholarship (my family certainly couldn't afford to send me to university), I bit my tongue out of fear of the pressure that a "distinguished professor" can bring to bear and was afraid of losing my scholarship. I had several acquaintances who had similar experiences with her in their university careers. I realize that some will refuse to believe me, but that is your right and your choice, but I just wanted to say that I lost any and all respect for Ms. Giovanni that day and a great deal of respect for the Virginia Tech administration.
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