Brazil Book

Nikki Giovanni uses all of her poetic lyricism to journey through the history, meaning, tradition, and power of African-American spirituals. Giovanni shares how lyrics, many of which are familiar to all Americans today if not worldwide ("This Little Light of Mine"; "Kumbaya"; and "The Whole World In His Hands" to name a few), were coded messages and expressions of slave life in the American South before the Civil War. Giovanni also highlights the agency, courage, strength, tenacity, and determination slaves in America possessed during, in spite of, and because of the hardships and unspeakable injustices slaves experienced. Giovanni's examination of African-American song lyrics, using primary sources, takes the reader on a journey of sadness, admiration, joy, and anger. Giovanni, conducting a historical analysis, rejects the traditional "academic" examination of these spirituals. Instead, and all the while exhibiting her own intellectual acumen and insightful study, she presents the humanity of how and why humans, specifically Africans who were kidnapped and brought to face the most inhumane conditions, overcome the trials presented to them. The songs become ways in which the slaves can take ownership of their own lives vis-a-vis interpretations and creative community expressions that stand in direct resistance to the horrors and dehumanizing experiences slaves experienced. There are many poignant moments in this read, one of the most is at the end when Giovanni discusses her respect for John Glenn. When Glenn hears from Houston that, "We have a problem," Glenn must turn the ship at the right angle or he was going to burn up as he entered Earth's atmosphere. Glenn, as the event was recorded so Houston could communicate, hummed. Giovanni links this innate act, the act of humming, to black women. She discusses the women on the slave ship who hummed; she ruminates on mothers humming to unsettled infants; she recalls African women humming in marketplaces during her last visit; and, she reminds all of her readers - those with and without direct African heritage - that the nation is indebted to a group of people who surmounted the greatest odds and did so through the beauty and ingenuity of their righteous humanity despite the evils they looked squarely in the eyes.