Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea

by Nikki Giovanni

A resonant collection of all new poems from one of America’s preeminent poets. Ever commanding, luminous, and controversial, Nikki Giovanni speaks truth to power on issues of social justice, racism, gender, violence, and justice. Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea is a tour de force from Nikki Giovanni, one of the most powerful voices in American culture and African American literature today. From Black Feeling, Black Talk and Black Judgment in the 1960s to Bicycles in 2010, Giovanni’s poetry has touched millions of readers worldwide, focusing a sharp eye on politics, racial inequality, violence, gender, social justice and African-American life. In Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea , Giovanni turns her gaze toward the state of the world around her, and offers a daring, resonant look inside her own self as well. “One of her best collections to date.” — Essence

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, African American, Feminism, Essays, African American Literature

110 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

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

[Jenna ❤ ❀ ❤ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my introduction to Nikki Giovanni's poetry.

I absolutely loved her verse poems, but the prose poems not so much. They read more like short stories or essays that run on without much of a destination.

3.5 stars rounded up. I'll be reading more of her work and hopefully the next collection I download will be more verse form than prose.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely poems and prose poems. Nikki was one of my college professors, and I was lucky to have her. Some of my favorites from this collection:

“What We Miss,” “I Always Think of Meatloaf,” “The Self-Evident Poem,” “My America” and “Beamer Ball.”

“only a hope and a prayer that they will be
shadowed beneath
a benign hand” - “Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea

“the deacons opening church with Leaning
on the Everlasting Arms…people forget
what got them over…what saved them” - “Shoulders Are For Emergencies Only”

[Petra X · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't really like reading poetry, but I picked this up and started to read and couldn't put it down. I later saw her lecture and she's a compelling speaker too.

[Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

a beautiful, slowly unfolding book of (mostly) prose poems. giovanni deftly and sweetly and urgently uses the rhythm of the sentence to slow and flesh out her stories. favorite poem: “a deer in headlights”

[Charlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few nice poems.

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea by Nikki Giovanni hums with the rhythm of spoken word poetry and the jazz of human experience. Each poem carries with it an essence that reflects the Black experience from the capture and transportation of slaves and what that should teach us about how to treat people to the lessons we carry with us once our relatives die. Her poetry is frank and honest, but it pulls no punches to ensure that readers understand that there are deep wrongs that can be learned from as long as we are willing to look at them closely. It may be difficult to review past transgressions without jumping to defend or shy away from shame, but her poems cause you to meet those challenges head on and to learn from our own follies.

At other times, her verse decries the blind eye that we turn every day to our own situations and histories, wishing that there were a different outcome or social norm. Giovanni’s poems focus a bit on the Black experience, but in many ways her verse and perspective transcends beyond those parameters to reach out to all of humanity. From “Possum Crossing” (page 5), “All birds being the living kin of dinosaurs/think themselves invincible and pay no heed/to the rolling wheels while they dine/on an unlucky rabbit//”

Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2011/12/q...

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are poems in this collection that are revelations on race, culture, and the human condition, rife with humor, wit, and power. When it's at its best, this book is a poignant powerhouse. Some prose poems tend to run a little overlong with no real focus, but the messages contained in them are worth hearing and understanding. This collection remains urgent and timely. I would recommend it as required reading for anyone looking for a way to approach the social issues that continue to divide us with compassion, grace, and action. The titular poem should be engraved in stone and passed out to everyone, in my opinion - it is an instant masterpiece.

[M]

I absolutely LOVED this poetry collection! If you could see my copy, you'd see it's so full of stick notes, they're almost on every other page. They mark poems or lines to go back to. So, what can I even say... I loved her style, her honesty in writing, the candor and the humor, and the beauty with which she writes about pain. And I liked the food writing too, but unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy it, being so heavy with animal parts.

To mention one or two, for example, "Ann's Poem" and "Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea", two favorites, I've read out loud, and of course, they sound so good and have a rhythm....

From the first to the last poem-essay, wow.

[Cayden Clark-Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are two really baffling poems toward the end that somewhat ruin the otherwise pretty great experience I had with this book. I suppose they were written before Giovanni could have known what her subjects would turn into

[Pomsnchi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A part of her heart and history, had to stop and cry at unexpected moments because you can feel the weight of her life seeping out

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nikki Giovanni was the first poet, the first author I ever met. She spoke at a conference I went to in high school. I know she is not terribly impressed with that information, but it was life-changing for me. I had never met a writer, never thought about what a poet might look like. She is 11 years older than me, so she must have been about 28, she had a big afro and she appeared very sophisticated to this suburban teenager. All this is to say that I will always have a place in my heart for Giovanni.

This was not my favorite book by Giovanni, but as always some of her poems struck a chord in my life. I am glad I read this book, but I hope the next poetry book I read is more inspiring.

[Sam Orndorff · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a devoted Nikki Giovanni reader, I don't think it's unfair to compare this book to the rest of her books, the ones I know and love. I don't joke when I say this woman is one of my heroes, not just for her writing. But when I compare this book and the rest, this one is slightly less potent and gushing with loving history. But overall, the effects she gives, offers, and summons from the deep are still full force- magic, humor, storytelling, passion. I sobbed a little bit on the poem about meatloaf because it warmed me and reminded me of home and family, which right now is thousands of miles away. Definitely worth your time.

[Megan Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite parts of this book are the next-to-last three pieces: "Redfish, Eels, and Heidi," "In Praise of a Teacher," and "Don't Think." Possibly this is because they're all related to teaching and teaching and learning. I just think they're beautiful, though.


I want this on a poster or something, to remind me of it:
"I love children's literature because it really isn't children's literature, it is folk literature. It is stories for people to carry to each other." ~"Redfish, Eels, and Heidi," Nikki Giovanni

[Folasade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve never really been into poetry, but oh my, where has Nikki Giovanni been all my life?! Her poetry was beautiful and thought provoking. She lost me on some of the short stories, but then again I’ve never been big on short stories either. I’m so excited to dive into more of Giovanni’s work in the near future.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last poem is one of my all-time favorites... :D

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to buy this book for the title poem. Which I have an mp3 of Nikki Giovanni reading at some college years ago and is so very very perfect.

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

More a lyrical essay collection than a poetry collection, this is Giovanni overviewing America and her place in it. Again, civil rights and memoir dominate, childhood memories, contemplation of the great historical figures, James Baldwin, Rosa Parks. Hatred of George W. Bush, which seems such a small fire now.

Unlike her later collection, the poems here are page-filling, using ellipses as breaks in the flow, there is a fullness to everything. The great work here is a section transcribing an imagined interview about a woman involved in civil rights that mixes fear and lust and love and death in a vital and striking way.

There is a happiness here, the contentment of a life nearly fulfilled that defines so much of her last collection. But the busy-ness here, the sense that Giovanni wants to wrap her arms around the world, and place herself firmly amid it too.

http://lawrencedebbs.home.blog/2025/0...

[Kirsten Krechel · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up.

As always, Nikki Giovanni's verse poems are lovely. Many of the poems in this collection, both verse and prose, I found to be more poignant than the collections of her love poems I'd read previously. Very thought-provoking. I picked this book up not realizing that a lot of the poems would be more like short stories that had merged with a poem, and I found that these longer-form prose-y works had more trouble keeping my attention. I didn't always want to pick up this book because I knew that more long poems to sift through were waiting for me. That said, a couple of my favorite poems erred on the longer side (notably, "I Always Think of Meatloaf".)

[Kris Dersch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would call this a combination of poems and essays. From 2002 it feels very steeped in the politics and world of that time, not in a bad way, but you forget what 2002 was like. I love her take on historical figures as well as the more contemporary stuff. It seems to unfold on itself, like each section peels away another layer and goes deeper. It made me want to read slowly and reflect and the language was glorious. I am going to get more of her poetry collections to read for sure.

[Nikki Hadder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I could read this short collection in one day. If you are familiar with Giovanni’s work, you know it’s not possible because she’s giving you nuggets of information, people, and events that make you go “Hunh?” I found myself cross referencing all sorts of newsworthy events and people, like Susan Smith.

While it didn’t take me long to read the actual poems and prose, it did take long to get through the book.

[Katharine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea is an incredibly moving combination of poems, essays, tributes, stories and interviews by Nikki Giovanni, spanning multiple decades. From the civil rights movement to 9/11, Giovanni does a wonderful job figuring out what is important in a person or an incident, and expressing it so that the reader understands and feels its importance from new angles.

[Wayne Sutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just what I needed

This is a great book of poems, and not quite poems ( I love that term) that really help you get to know Nikki a bit more about who inspires her as well as tributes to many black leaders who helped shape Black America. Highly recommend this book. Good for the soul

[Andrea Engle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spirited and lively, a window on another world ... a collection of vivid poems and prose poems ... of particular note: "A Robin's Nest in Snow," "Swinging on a Rainbow," and "Desperate Acts" … a Black voice that is also a Universal voice ... a most rewarding read ...

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, Nikki Giovanni has a way of capturing small human events, like making home-made meatloaf, and huge human events, like 9/11 in a way that pulls you into them and helps you remember and learn. These are beautiful.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

"And you've just bot to feel sorry for white folks who still do not understand this is another century and we just can't keep bombing the same people over and over again because we don't want to admit the craziness is home grown"

May this fabulous poet know rest!

[Oran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come. Good book, not great.

[Lisa K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe I read this all the way through sometime around 2006. Dipped into it this year to select a poem for our Poetry Line at work -- read "The Girls in the Circle."

[Kathy D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m still bemoaning the fact that I missed her visit and reading when I was in college. Being able to enjoy her writings however is such a delight!

[Java · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am going to Mars.

[Katy-Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m gonna need the rest of the year to mentally recover from Have Dinner With Me.