African American history is powerfully and deeply analyzed in Nikki Giovanni's poetry. Her journey to find her roots is both about her and her community. She talks about her childhood memories of growing up in a segregated neighborhood. She remembers how fun it was to play with her friends and how painful it was to be treated differently due to her skin color. She praises the African American community for being resilient and powerful. She reflects on the hard times her people have been through, but she additionally speaks about how they have been able to get through them. Giovanni's quest to find her roots motivated her to learn more about her African roots. She has been to Africa more than once and has written about what she did there through the analysis of postcolonial theory.
Keywords: African American roots, identity, blackness, memories, and
racism.
Introduction
