By Kerry Laird
“The human spirit cannot be tamed.” These words from famed poet and lecturer Nikki Giovanni, delivered during the inaugural masterclass of the Toni Morrison Writing Program at Prairie View A&M University, stirred the souls of students in attendance, encouraging empowerment and aspiration.
“True leadership isn’t measured by a title nor socioeconomic status, but through passion and determination to make the world a better place for all people,” said Jayven Rashard Jean-Louis, a junior computer science major and aspiring screenwriter/director. “Participating in this masterclass was a pivotal moment in my career. I am looking forward to the next sessions in this program due to the immersive experience that I’ve received through the unapologetic yet passionate teachings from Nikki Giovanni.”
Announced last August and launched in September, PVAMU’s Toni Morrison Writing Program includes masterclasses, lectures, class visitations, and critiques of student work. Giovanni, a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech University, serves as PVAMU’s first writer-in-residence through 2022. Her next public address and poetry reading is scheduled for this week. “Nikki Giovanni Speaks: In My Life and My Writing, the Unabashed Pursuit of Social Justice” will be streamed on PVAMU’s official YouTube channel.
The celebrated writer to grace the program each year will be an acclaimed “top-tier literary artist” with “a genuine interest in inspiring and guiding…students and faculty” at HBCUs, according to the program website.
Giovanni more than filled this role for many of the students who attended the first two program sessions.
“The new Toni Morrison Writing Program is a major landmark in the great history of the university,” said Teta Banks, Ed.D., the program’s committee chair. “It continues the tradition and dedication of the university to provide excellence in education—in all its forms—to its students and the community. The inaugural writer-in-residence, the great poet Nikki Giovanni, has been the epitome of excellence in creative writing, social thought, communication, and the arts as a vehicle for social change.”
Students able to attend the program have expressed excitement about the opportunity and appreciation for the university’s dedication to providing extra-curricular activities that will help future Panther graduates make a mark in society while helping to improve the lives of others.
“Growing up, my mother was an avid reader of both Toni Morrison and Ms. Giovanni,” said Salahudeen Robinson, a junior political science major and chief justice of the Student Government Association at PVAMU. “To now have the opportunity to be a member of the Toni Morrison program, may God bless her soul, and learn from Ms. Giovanni, shows me how life can come full circle.”
Speaking of coming full circle, Robinson and Jean-Louis started their PVAMU journey together as participants in the university’s Panther Pride Summer Bridge Program. “We have been friends and pushing each other towards excellence ever since,” said Robinson.
Robinson also said that Giovanni’s presence in the program has already helped build students’ confidence in their own writing and the ability to receive criticism with humility.
“We must trust ourselves and our stories as we write them,” said Robinson, remembering Giovanni’s words. “We cannot allow outside influences or someone telling us we can’t or shouldn’t write a certain way or express a certain narrative to prevent us from writing what we feel is correct.”
PVAMU faculty affiliated with the program have been pleased with the overall student response, noting improvements in student attendees’ ability and vision.
“I’m really happy that word is getting out and that the students have really enjoyed this opportunity,” said Glenn Shaheen, Ph.D., an assistant professor of English and creative writing at PVAMU, who is also a part of the program’s leadership committee.
Building better writers
With the proliferation of the written word, along with the ease of access to information, writers have become carriers of culture through convenient electronic delivery systems that did not exist at the turn of the millennium.
It is even more important now that what writers say is as poignant as how it is written. For when the pen is unsheathed and wielded as a mighty blade, change abounds—for the better or the worse.
“Ms. Giovanni’s lectures during the masterclass have inspired students to think about the relevance of their existence, the issues confronting their communities, and their responsibility and ability to address them,” said Banks. “Students have been able to see with a second vision their own lives as the canvas for their messaging of feelings, perspectives, history, and dreams. She shows the importance of creative writing, as she has stated, ‘We cannot leave it to history as a discipline nor to sociology nor science nor economics to tell the story of our people.’”
Indeed, as the world shrinks and people become more familiar with the ways and struggles of brothers and sisters across the globe, there are sure to be growing pains as folks search for the means to include these broader views in everyday human existence.
Fortunately for attendees of the masterclass with the poet extraordinaire, life unfolds like a map with proven paths plucked from experience to help light the way for the writers of tomorrow.
“Having Nikki Giovanni as our inaugural writer-in-residence is beneficial to our students in the masterclass and beyond because she affords students exposure to a living literary legend who can serve as a catalyst to demonstrate ways they may choose to reflect on current and everyday observations in unique and creative structures that can be recorded and shared through the ages,” said Leadership Committee Member Joanna Sanders Mann, Ph.D., an English professor at PVAMU. “She also engages students through challenging their evolving understandings of arts and cultures in a dynamic global society.”
Through the life of this icon, PVAMU students, like Robinson, can glean tricks of the trade to help improve their own craft as writers.
Gaining a lifetime of influence
For Robinson, the masterclass, along with Giovanni’s advice, has already impacted the way he writes, particularly when it comes to scholarship essays.
“Ms. Giovanni has pushed me more towards embracing every aspect of my life story instead of simply trying to include the pieces of my story I feel these programs want to hear and leaving out the parts that may get me judged or criticized,” he said.
Jean-Louis, who worked as a software engineer at Lockheed Martin last summer, said his experience in the Toni Morrison Writing Program offered “a pivotal moment” in his journey toward becoming a screenwriter, actor and film director.
“The Toni Morrison Program has helped me not only to feel empowered through my passion for storytelling but also to understand the power that the realm of literature holds,” he said. “Like many other writers, this is a way for us to express our way of thinking, but it will also allow me to be a paragon of hope and inspiration to my audiences.”
Jean-Louis said he came across a flyer for the masterclass on social media and wasn’t about to let the opportunity to learn from a living legend slip away.
“A masterclass provided by my beloved HBCU with the notorious Nikki Giovanni is something you cannot take for granted,” he said. “In my opinion, Prairie View A&M University is a mecca for opportunities. Ultimately, encountering this program has opened unforeseen doors that I didn’t anticipate happening, but I have the utmost faith and trust in my institution.”
Learning from a legend
Provost Emerita and Professor E. Joahanne Thomas-Smith, Ed.D., director of the Toni Morrison Writing Program, said the first masterclass was for currently enrolled students, both undergraduate and graduate. She added that future sessions would continue to give enrolled students priority, with some opportunity for faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the university to participate in either a masterclass or a workshop.
“Our dreams are possible if we are willing to work towards them,” said Robinson. “Hearing Ms. Giovanni’s story will inspire students that no matter what past they have, at any moment, they can create a better future. From this program, we will see the best writers in Prairie View A&M history produced. I am excited for what the future sessions will include.”
Giovanni’s breadth of knowledge and experience spans more than half a century of social change. Her willingness to share her life with PVAMU students and faculty sets the stage for inspiration and future progress.
“Ms. Giovanni shares her generational perspectives—spanning the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Power Movement, the Black Lives Matter Movement and the Me Too Movement,” said Banks. “This span brings extensive knowledge of social struggles and social progress as we stand in the 21st century and see beyond to a new day and new age. I extend our gratitude to Ms. Giovanni for her acceptance of this role in the history of PVAMU and her continued spiritual and academic guidance in the development of our young leaders.”
