The Women and the Men

by Nikki Giovanni

From Harlem rooftops to the drumbeats of the Congo, the poems in "The Women and the Men display in full measure the gifts that have made Nikki Giovanni one of the most important, appealing, and broad-reaching American her warmth, her conciseness, her passion, and her wit. First appearing between 1970 and 1975, the poems in this gemlike volume reflect the drastic change that took place--in both the consciousness of the nation and in the sould of the poet. From "Ego Tripping" to "Poem for Flora" and "Africa," "The Women and the Men is replete with the greatest hits of Nikki Giovanni's incredible oeuvre. With reverence to the ordinary and in search of the extraordinary, Nikki Giovanni, above all, displays here her caring for the people, things, and places she has observed and touched and captured.As a witness to three generations, Nikki Giovanni has perceptively and poetically recorded her observations of both the outside world and the gentle yet enigmatic territory of the self. When her poems first emerged from the Black Rights Movement in the late 1960's, she immediately became a celebrated and controversial poet of the era. Written in one of the most commanding voices to grace America's political and poetic lanscape at the end of the twentieth century, Nikki Giovanni's poems embody the fearless passion and spirited wit for which she is beloved and revered.

Genres: Poetry, Race

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni Jr. was an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. One of the world's most well-known African-American poets, her work includes poetry anthologies, poetry recordings, and nonfiction essays, and covers topics ranging from race and social issues to children's literature. She won numerous awards, including the Langston Hughes Medal and the NAACP Image Award. She was nominated for a Grammy Award for her poetry album, The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection. Additionally, she was named as one of Oprah Winfrey's 25 "Living Legends". Giovanni was a member of The Wintergreen Women Writers Collective.
Giovanni gained initial fame in the late 1960s as one of the foremost authors of the Black Arts Movement. Influenced by the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement of the period, her early work provides a strong, militant African-American perspective, leading one writer to dub her the "Poet of the Black Revolution". During the 1970s, she began writing children's literature, and co-founded a publishing company, NikTom Ltd, to provide an outlet for other African-American women writers. Over subsequent decades, her works discussed social issues, human relationships, and hip hop. Poems such as "Knoxville, Tennessee" and "Nikki-Rosa" have been frequently re-published in anthologies and other collections.
Giovanni received numerous awards and holds 27 honorary degrees from various colleges and universities. She was also given the key to over two dozen cities. Giovanni was honored with the NAACP Image Award seven times. One of her more unique honors was having a South America bat species, Micronycteris giovanniae, named after her in 2007.
Giovanni was proud of her Appalachian roots and worked to change the way the world views Appalachians and Affrilachians.
Giovanni taught at Queens College, Rutgers, and Ohio State, and was a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech until September 1, 2022. After the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, she delivered a chant-poem at a memorial for the shooting victims.

Reviews

[Olivia-Savannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was quite conflicted about this rating, and I'm going to go through the three parts of this book to explain.

The Women

In this section, I loved the poetry. It was just what I expected from Giovanni from having read her other poetry collections. The poems were lyrical, beautiful and amazing. The enjambment and repetition was used so well. She used imagery and metaphors that applied so well to the messages of her poems. In them I could see how women were supposed to behave, and I could see her breaking through that ideology to show what a strong, black woman looked like. She shared wisdom and I was captivated. I was sure I was going to give this collection a blazing five stars and rank it among my favourites.

The Men

But then this section happened. I'm not sure if it is personal, because me and romantic poetry never seem to really get along... but in this one, the poetry was especially cringe worthy. It was as if they were written by someone entirely different. As if the love consumed some of her poetic skill along with it... I don't know, but these poems felt juvenile and didn't flow at all. It kind of crashed and burned.

Some Places

This final section was okay. Some poems just didn't have a special touch so they didn't leave a lasting impression on me at all. Some poems were a bit better, especially the last few. They gave me some snippets of wisdom and were okay poetically. But in the end, this section was lukewarm, and after the amazing start to the collection, then the crash and burn, then the lukewarm aftertaste... this collection just felt a little disappointing in comparison to her others.

Nikki Giovanni is an amazing poet. But this is not her best, and if you are giving her a first chance I wouldn't recommend starting here.

[LALa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never know what to say about collections of poetry. I enjoyed a great number of the pieces in this one. It's easy to skim social media and come across so much cliche/bad or boring poetry (myself included at times I'm sure) that one might forget what good poetry looks/sounds like. I am thankful for this refreshing reminder and plan to read more of Giovanni's work.

[Syd]

first giovanni collection!
picked up on a whim from the library because it was a beautiful vintage edition. glad I read it! my favorites were "all I gotta do," "the december of my springs," "hampton, virginia," "how do you write a poem," and "alabama poem."

[brass · Rating 5 out of 5]

these poems put you on location. i dig her words.

[ben adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book embodies why Nikki Giovanni is so awesome.

[Coles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giovanni is my favorite poet and any book of hers that I can add to my shelves is a prayer answered.

[Paul H · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reason I chose this book was because it is not something I would typically read. As I was browsing the shelf I decided to step outside of my comfort zone a little bit and chose a book that was different from what I had been reading throughout the year. Usually I try to find a mystery or a sports related book, but I decided maybe reading poetry would give me a new perspective and open my eyes to a wider selection of books.
After reading this book it made me take a step back and really appreciate the things I have because a lot of people to not have it as easy as I do and have to fight for everything they have. Being a white male in the twenty first century is not very challenging, a lot of things are handed to you. For the author, Nikki Giovanni, her life story is the complete opposite. She is an african american female who used her hardship and turned into something great. She writes poetry discussing big issues in the world, and uses such great language that you are so wrapped into what she is saying you feel so much more interested in what you are reading. She focuses on a five year period between 1970-1975 and the struggles she had to go through, due to the racial tension in the the country. In the story she has forty two different poems all related to the struggle of being an african american in the U.S. at this time. Out of all of these poems there was a couple that stood out to me and I would like to share. The first one is titled “All I Gotta Do” and the reason it stood out was because it is her putting herself in her teenage girl's perspective and she uses repetition to show that a women’s role at this time was to just cook and clean, but she knows she has the intelligence to do so many great things, but all she has to do is sit and wait for her opportunity. The next poem that stuck out is called “Mother’s Habits” and this one stuck with me because my mother and myself have a close relationship and I know how much a mother has to sacrifice for her children. In the poem she is talking about how every child has a piece of their mother in them, and how she grew up and inspired to be just like her mom. The final poem that touched me is one by the name of “Revolutionary Dreams” I liked this because it kind of gives you an idea of why she became an author. The poem talks about how when she was younger she was really determined to be in the military and she thought that was her calling in life, but after everything she had been through she knew she needed to help make change. Her works have been influential to thousands of people of all different races, and what she has done with her life is incredible seeing where she came from.
Something I liked about this book is that it wasn’t like the little poetry I had been accustomed to in the past. I was thinking it was just going to be another boring book that you just read for school and don’t really pay attention to, but when I was reading each poem I was getting so engaged I couldn’t wait to get to the next one. This made reading the book go by so much quicker and I was able to finish it way ahead of schedule. (too bad I didn’t review it ahead of schedule.)
I did not have many complaints about the book, but I guess if there is one negative to take away from it I would say that a couple of the poems were really short with only a few lines and I wasn’t sure I was really comprehending what she was trying to say, but I tried to use context clues and the title of the poem to put it together.

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went on a Nikki Giovanni poetry reading binge because she will be at the SC Book Festival in May 2014.

Anyone who has read Nikki Giovanni's more recent love poem anthologies - Love Poems and Bicycles - will find that many of the poems chosen for those volumes come from this one.

I think I may prefer them this way, presented in groupings of poems on women and poems on men, which adds more balance to the "love" part of life. Taken by itself, it can be a bit... sappy, shall we say. But always heartfelt, always true.

My favorite poem is the opposite of sappy, called Housecleaning, which can be listened to on the Smithsonian Folkways website, read by the poet.

Housecleaning

i always liked housecleaning
even as a child
i dug straightening
the cabinets
putting new paper on
the shelves
washing the refrigerator
inside out
and unfortunately this habit has
carried over and i find
i must remove you
from my life

[Susan Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book of free form poetry, I found the poems best read out loud as they are like spoken word, or lyrics. The strong plain but beautifully constructed poems remind me of Langston Hughes.

Some themes in this collection are, music, nature of fame and gender roles. Another strength of this collection is its great economy of language. A quick example is :

The Autumn Poems

the heat
you left with me
last night
still smolders
the wind catches
your scent
and refreshes
my senses

i am a leaf
falling from your tree
upon which i was
impaled

[Rianna Jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another re-read. Nikki Giovanni’s poetry still speaks today! Published in 1975.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giovanni writes with confidence and assurance. Her poems are like exclamation marks. No doubt, no argument, no discussion. She encapsulates her world, her experience, her truths, and serves them up without apology or contextualization. Her words are bold and inspirational.

The Women Gather
the women gather
because it is not unusual
to seek comfort in our hours of stress
a man must be buried

it is not unusual
that the old bury the young
though it is an abomination

it is not strange
that the unwise and the ungentle
carry the banner of humaneness
though it is a castration of the spirit

it no longer shatters the intellect
that those who make war
call themselves diplomats

we are no longer surprised
that the unfaithful pray loudest
every sunday in every church
and sometimes in rooms facing east
though it is a sin and a shame

so how do we judge a man

most of us love from our need to love not
because we find someone deserving

most of us forgive because we have trespassed not
because we are magnanimous

most of us comfort because we need comforting
our ancient rituals demand that we give
what we hope to receive

and how do we judge a man

we learn to greet when meeting
to cry when parting
and to soften our words at times of stress

the women gather
with cloth and ointment
their busy hands bowing to laws that decree
willows shall stand swaying but unbroken
against even the determined wind of death

we judge a man by his dreams
not alone his deeds
we judge a man by his intent
not alone his shortcomings
we judge a man because it is not unusual
to know him through those who love him

the women gather strangers
to each other because
they have loved a man

it is not unusual to sift
through ashes
and find an unburnt picture

[Maughn Gregory · Rating 4 out of 5]

there are no reservations
for the revolution

no polite little clerk
to send notice
to your room
saying you are WANTED
on the battlefield ...

there will be no recruitment
station
where you can give
the most convenient hours
"monday wednesday i play ball
friday night i play cards
any other time i'm free"

This second book of Giovanni's poetry is full of important observations on fighting hate with love (a marked shift from her first book), while continuing the passionate struggle for justice.

[Jerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I connected with this sooo much more than I expected to...and it's not at all because I had low expectations, but because I just happened across this title while shelving at work. I'd simply never read any of Nikki Giovanni's work up until now. I'm SO glad that I grabbed it and placed it on my cart because the experience I just had reading this solitary book, I'm sure, was and will be for years to come, very significant in my life.

[Hope L. Justice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't find the style or language to be exceptional as a majority. I think they were some that really shined, purely easy beauty. "alone" is really lovely:
i can be
alone by myself
i was
lonely alone
now i'm lonely
with you
something is wrong
there are flies
everywhere
i go

I think as a whole, the form is tiresome and within poems there are a lot of clashing images--thematically schizophrenic in some places. I really enjoyed this read however.

3.5

[Brendan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poetry about being black in America, romance, aging, and family. Three sections: The Women, The Men, And Some Places. The middle section didn't really do anything for me.

My favorites:
"Poetry"
"Poem for Aretha"

I am so hip even my errors are correct
- "Ego Tripping"

it is not unusual to sift
through ashes
and find an unburnt picture
- "The Women Gather"

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me a bit to get into her style, but I enjoyed the poems and there are bits of them that really struck me as true and beautiful--even if the truth was not so beautiful, the way it was written was. I connected with this more than I expected to, and one that stood out to me was "Housecleaning."

[Drew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the poems in "The Women" section are lovely and have a swinging ease about them, even as they take on heavy topics. But the poems in "The Men" section made me cringe whenever Giovanni waxed romantic mush. The final section ("And Some Places") is better but the "old lady" wisdom rings false -- which makes sense: Giovanni was only 30-something at the time of publication.

[Jen H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revolutionary Dreams and Kidnap Poem are two great poems from this collection. Nikki Giovanni is still writing poetry and teaches at Virginia Tech.

[Herman brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

gentle... yet concise.

[Karen Ashmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no better poem than "Ego Tripping", especially when read out loud full of drama and emotion.

[R.K. Cowles · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/4 stars

[laurannolivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

love her writing, lover her wit and humor, love HER

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

In her fifth poetry collection, Nikki Giovanni shows a growing sophistication in her writing. While race and racism are still very explored in this book, The Women and the Men is free of racial slurs and other curse words. I was impressed by the author’s reflections on aging found in poems such as “Once a Lady Told Me” and “The Life I Led.” There are surprising, deep insights here from a woman who was only 32 when she was writing.


[Image: Book Cover of The Women and the Men]

The Life I Led by Nikki Giovanni
“i know my upper arms will grow
flabby it's true
of all the women in my family
i know that the purple views
like dead fish in Seine
will dot my legs one day
and my hands will wither while
my hair turns grayish white I know that
one day my teeth will move when
my lips smile
and a flutter of hair will appear
below my nose I hope
my skin doesn't change to those blotchy
colors

i want my menses to be undifficult
i'd very much prefer staying firm and slim
to grow old like a vintage wine fermenting
in old wooden vats with style
i'd like to be exquisite I think

i will look forward to grandchildren
and my flowers all my knickknacks in their places
and that quiet of the bombs not falling on Cambodia
settling over my sagging breasts

i hope my shoulder finds a head that needs nestling
and my feet find a footstool after a good soaking
with Epsom salts

i hope I die
warmed
by the life I tried
to live”

***************************************************************************

[Image: Book Cover of The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni, 1968-1998]

Citation:
Giovanni, N. (2008). The women and the men. In V. C. Fowler, Ed., The Collected Poetry, 1968-1998 (eBook; pp. 246-279). Harper Collins e-books. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00... (Original work published 1975)

Title: The Women and the Men
Author(s): Nikki Giovanni (1943-2024)
Year: 1975
Genre: Poetry
Date(s) read: 3/4/25
Book 51 in 2025
***************************************************************************

[Moonglum · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the 1980s I was lucky enough to see Nikki Giovanni read some of her poems at the University of Santa Cruz. I was blown away by the poem 'Ego Tripping', and would occasionally attempt to entertain folks with my rendition of it. The line 'I am a beautiful woman' always got a chuckle. I recently learned that she died this month, and so re-read this collection that I have kept, which contains that poem. I was delighted to discover the other great poems in it, which I had no memory of.

Favorite Poems other than Ego Tripping: Women Gather, Once A Lady Told Me, Poem for Flora, For a Lady of Pleasure Now Retired, Ever Want to Crawl, Kidnap Poem, I Want to Sing, Rain, Alone, Africa, A Very Simple Wish, Walking Down Park, Poetry, Always There are the Children

[tien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this while PA’ing on my first feature film set. I wish so badly that I could annotate since it really helps me get my thoughts together but I wanted to read this so bad and couldn’t wait so I borrowed it from the library in my hometown. I’ve never felt so seen by something being in lapslock (you can’t tell from my reviews but that’s what I write in for almost everything) but also Nikki Giovanni is such an incredible poet. There’s something so uniquely vivid about her poetry. RIP Nikki Giovanni you are a legend.

[C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Women and the Man collection is full of Wonderful and moving thoughts of life, family, and love. My only complaint is that This collection ended too soon. The author sprinkles in a few poems from other poetry collections, print magazines and a few pieces on culture, violence, race, and loss. What is most memorable is her love for humanity. She dedicated many of the poems to artists, friends, and specific ocassions. A few pieces are not true poems but more like beautiful musings.

[Patricia]

This book closed out my poetry selections for National Poetry Month. Giovanni is a master of language and an astute observer of humans. I wasn't always familiar with the world she was writing about, but I was interested in bearing witness to the world she presented. She is certainly deserving of her reputation as a poet.

[Niko Lavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

"in my mind you're a clock
and i'm the second hand sweeping
around you sixty times an hour
twenty-four hours a day
three hundred sixty-five days a year
and an extra day
in leap year
cause that's the way
that's the way
that's the way i feel
about you"

I want to devour every single thing she has written

[Terry Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many more poems aligned with love and hope in this volume, but with Giovanni’s same wit and insight. There were many that spoke to me but The Women Gather is sitting with me the most as I set this volume down.